


Devil In The Deep Dark Ocean

by maskedbriala



Category: overwatch
Genre: (he doesnt actually eat her but usually sirens eat people), Drowning Mention, F/M, NSFW, Sirens AU, a little mind control & pheromone use to seduce angie, anyways please read another fic w explicit consent if dubcon squicks u, cannibalism mention, gabriel is a siren, please be warned there is seriously dubious consent in this fic, weird siren genitalia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:46:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9947306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maskedbriala/pseuds/maskedbriala
Summary: Dr. Angela Ziegler is captured by a siren and brought back to his treasure cove.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1) please make sure you read my tag warnings, especially if you feel uncomfortable w/ dubcon!
> 
> 2) inspired partially by sake-and-whiskey's sea dragon hanzo/pirate mccree au on tumblr!  
> (www.sake-and-whiskey.tumblr.com/tagged/sea-au)

When Angela woke, it was from a heavy, scaly weight on her legs. At first, it felt that the sea water had crusted her eyes shut and they didn’t want to open, but something was on her, and she needed to wake up. 

Her eyes opened and were met immediately with a ghostly lavender glow---eyes. They lit a scarred and grey face, a black trimmed beard, sharp cheekbones...sharp teeth. 

Angela twisted back, realizing the cold feeling against her back was smooth, wet rock. Above her, stalactites dripping water. A cave ceiling. 

“Relax, mi cariña.” The voice was a smooth growl and coming from the thing on top of her---she expected its breath to smell like blood or fish, but it brought the familiar scent of Jack’s harsh minty mouthwash. In fact, the more she studied the creature, the more she realized it smelled strong and masculine with hints of alpine wood and musk, like Zarya’s cologne. 

Out of the water slipped the rest of its long black tail, scaly and just slightly iridescent. The upper half was a man and she wasn’t sure where he ended and the tail began, the sweet pheromones dragging her out of clear thought.

-

Gabriel’s prey was especially beautiful tonight. Normally, a victim plummeting in the water would be entrapped, torn apart alive and drowned under the weight of the ocean in the tangle of his arms and hair. Normally death happened within minutes of contact with the waves. 

But not this one. He had a vast collection of beautiful things in his isolated cove---gold and rings, treasure from the deepest depths of the sea that humankind had long since forgotten about. It was all safely hidden in his cove, an isolated pocket of air cut off from the rest of the sea by long entirely flooded channels. 

He had wanted her alive, kissing breaths of his magic into her as he carried her through the underwater labyrinth of caves. His breath would allow her some temporary relief from the long journey without oxygen that would otherwise surely drown her. 

When Gabriel heaved her onto the rocks in his cave, she was heavy and limp, dress incredibly waterlogged. It was a formal red gown that most likely sparkled before the harsh salt water scrubbed away the light dusting of glitter on it. 

The woman was beginning to rouse, coughing the water from her lungs, smudged under her eyes and running slightly blue. His spell immediately fell over her, gravelly voice humming her a gentle song. She would smell the scents of her loved ones and lovers, her heart would slow, adrenaline and parasympathetic nervous system stunted and suppressed. 

-

Angela could hear water lapping against rock and tilted her head to see where the gentle tide was coming in. Somewhere, deep in her mind, she knew not to bear her neck to this creature, but it was too late. 

And why shouldn’t she? Her body betrayed her, relaxed and limp under the heaviness of a soaked dress and the creature. In her periphery she caught the sight of sparkling gold and jewelry, literal piles of wealth, and yet all she could really find herself desiring was a kiss. 

“What a-are you?” she said, and realized her teeth were chattering. But she didn’t feel cold. 

“Gabriel,” the creature said, long dark tail swishing against the rock. He was still on top of her, weighing her down, but even if he was she still probably wouldn’t be able to get up. “What is your name, my treasure?” 

“Angela,” she uttered, without a thought. The thing was at her throat now and she whimpered, expecting icy, fishy kisses but finding that his lips were soft and warm on her skin. His lips parted, tongue slipping out to taste the delicate flesh over her throat. There was a grazing of sharp teeth and she whimpered, a re-emergence of rational thought screaming that she needs to get away. 

“You must be so cold,” Gabriel crooned, and all the cold rushed back into her body. She gasped at the sudden iciness of the sea water soaking her, the once-tropical cave air now feeling frigid against her skin. She heard him kiss under her jaw softly and slowly. “Take your wet clothes off. Trust me to warm you, cariña.” 

Angela wasn’t sure if her hands were acting without her or not. They came up to try to push down the strapless dress, but it was too tight to slip down over her breasts, and soon the clawed hand was pulling gently at the zipper on her back. 

That dress was five hundred francs. But it didn’t matter. She kicked it off herself carelessly onto the rock and let it lay in a soaked heap away from her. She thought she ought to care more, but she couldn’t. It felt too good to get it off, and as Gabriel promised, removing the drenched fabric helped her feel warmer. She disrobed from her bra and panties next, and the remaining rational brain suggested she should feel shy, laying naked on the shore of a cave with a stranger watching her. 

Angela caught the flash of sharp white teeth when Gabriel licked them. “That’s more like it.” 

\--

Gabriel thought he would have to strengthen his grasp on her mind, but this woman was so easily malleable that he let go entirely. His rich pheromones were proving to be more than enough for her to submit happily to his trap. 

There were so many beautiful things in his collection, but none organic, none squirming and warm and alive like this human. The wealth of his possessions were not lost on the siren, but for now, his captive was much more appealing than any of it. He ran his clawed hand up her belly, kissing the soft flesh and feeling her shiver. It was so very vulnerable, and he could sink his teeth into the meat now and begin his feast---but that would ruin the fun. There was so much more of this Angela to savour, it would be a waste to devour her so early. 

His slithering appendage emerged from the cloaca at the top of his tail, slick and black and smooth. It coiled for the warmth of her inner thighs, brushing the hot skin and prompting a shiver. 

-

As the siren lifted himself back onto her naked body, Angela realized something was getting inside her. It was cold, and didn’t feel like something that belonged there necessarily. At first she thought it was cold water dripping into the folds of her sex, but the deeper it intruded the more she knew that wasn’t true.

“Shh….” The voice remained the same gravelly growl, but the smell of Fareeha was filling her up now. Fareeha smelled warm, soft hair wafting the perfume of moroccan oil, skin spicy with sweat and her natural warm musk. Then the smell became Jack again, and if her feelings weren’t muddled before, they certainly were then. “I will make you feel warm again.” 

Angela gasped, belly muscles contorting with pleasure when the appendage began to grind down against her clit. Gabriel’s mouth was on hers again, his tongue invading her mouth and drawing a moaning whimper. 

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” he growled, and his hips rolled against her, prompting a cry of pleasure tinged with the pain of being full. The appendage was slick and tapered and hardly felt like anything upon first invading, but the deeper it got the more she knew it was not nothing. 

“Ja,” came her soft cry, before she could stop it. It did feel good. She wanted more, legs starting to grip around his hips, fingers finding his wet, silky hair. Something just smelled good and safe, the lips on hers soft and familiar feeling. Hot pleasure was running up her body and chilling her lower back, making it twitch up desperately for more. 

The creature wasn’t thrusting like she expected him to, the coiling appendage doing most of the work for him. His moans were low and ravenous in her ear, splitting at the seams with desire and demand. Her pitched cries were echoing back to her in the otherwise empty cave, and for the first time she felt she could make whatever noises she was compelled to without hesitation. No one would hear. 

Angela’s toes curled and she groaned, head tipped against the hard rock. Perhaps she should have been uncomfortable lying on the stone, but it didn’t feel like it mattered. Gabriel was so warm and so enjoyable, all strong carved muscle under grey skin. 

A hot, slick tongue ran up her throat and she moaned again, chin lifting back to let him lick away the salty water. 

“Please,” she whispered softly. She felt she should plead but was unsure what for, softly settling on, “/More/.” 

-

/Got her./

If he wasn’t going to devour her flesh right away, he would at least savour drinking up her life energy. It was like sipping sweet smoke off the surface of her flesh---a little here, a little there, weakening her more and more while she was distracted with pleasure. 

Gabriel did give her more, twisting and curling until she cried out even more. She sounded more and more like what was expected of a prey animal, crying her high pitched moans into the emptiness. 

He slowly became more sated, licking his lips. It did not have the same pleasure as sinking his teeth into meat, but there was something to be enjoyed about the life energy of humans too. Distracted in his feeding, he only paused briefly to notice when Angela orgasmed. Her face contorted tightly and she gasped, arching, palms flattening hard against the smooth rock. Her hips rolled faster against Gabriel before her cries ceased. 

“So beautiful,” he crooned, without ceasing his movements inside her. Angela was squirming more and he imagined her orgasm made her sensitive, and that made it all the sweeter for Gabriel. A pleading grunt emerged and he stroked her hair back, fingers tangling in it. 

-

No stranger to sex or self-pleasure, Angela remained shocked at how strong and sudden her orgasm was. It didn’t matter. She squirmed between the hard ground and the creature when its length didn’t come out, almost tickling inside her most sensitive places. She realized that the occasional bursts of aching pain came from the thing testing her cervix for entry, something that should not have been possible. 

“Gah!” She gasped and twisted her hips a little, finding that his grasp there kept them still. “It is, too sensitive, gnnh,” she pleaded, squirming wildly from his grinding against her throbbing clitoris. The creature either didn’t hear her or didn’t care, sucking on her throat and grazing his teeth down the skin, nipping and biting. She was suddenly overwhelmed with pleasure again as he squeezed another finish from her body, prompting even higher cries and moans as she twisted around beneath him. “Oh, god, oh god!” 

Gabriel snarled a guttural moan of pleasure and she felt his release, though his appendage didn’t feel like it left any seed or residue inside her. Angela shivered violently when it slipped out of her body and back into Gabriel, panting and gasping and finally able to recognize the splashing tide splattering her again.

It was kissing her again and she sank under him, allowing it with ease. He was so warm against her wet skin, even as the distraction of pleasure faded. She felt him curl his arms around her and start drawing her back down towards the dark water with a panicked gasp. 

“Shhh…” His voice soothed her again and the panic slipped away like a heavy rock weighing down a cliff face, plummeting away and out of concern. The sea water was cold on her naked skin, and even colder against her hot, throbbing sex, still raw from orgasm. 

Her brain screamed at her to struggle when he started to sink her in the clear black water. She could see the bottom now, perhaps five meters under the lucid water, a sandy bottom laden with gold and jewelry and bones picked clean. 

“I can feel your heart racing,” he crooned, kissing her. His arm around her kept her arms pinned easily to her sides and her head above the water, but he didn’t drag her down any further. “But I am not hurting you.” 

He carried her into a deep pool of bluer water, rock edges rough with yellow-green salt deposits. It was a hot spring, extremely warm and comfortable compared to the cool ocean around it. He laid her gently on a ledge that felt like a seat, and as he let her go, she realized that she was surrounded by piles of gold and jewelry yet again. She was at the center, the crowning jewel of the treasure heap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this hella late + after taking nyquil so please forgive any errors. warnings for blood, violence, more cannibalism mention & dubcon.

Not certain when she actually fell asleep, Angela woke halfway out of the hot spring, cheek pressed to her bicep. Hunger burned in her gut. The salt water had dried her lips and her makeup was congealed around her eyes, mouth desperately dry. There was so much water around her and yet none of it was drinkable.

The cave was empty. For a moment, she wondered if her encounter with the siren was a   
hallucination---being oxygen-deprived for however long when she fell into the sea, it didn’t seem unlikely. 

But then she saw the treasure and remembered. A pruny finger ran along the surface of a rough gold coin, so eroded from the seawater that only the faintest silhouette of a person was distinguishable on one face. The year and language was long worn off. 

She crawled out of the pool slowly, looking around. The cave was warm and tropical, the walls lit with unusual turquoise fungus displaying remarkably bright bioluminescence, like nothing she had ever seen. Her eyes grazed every surface until she found the wet heap of her discarded dress, laying it flat on a dry rock alongside her panties and bra when she found them. The humidity in the cave made it seem unlikely they would actually dry anytime soon. 

Across the water came a soft croon and she turned her head quickly.

“Angela…” 

A head of soaked, silky black hair peered up from the water, purple eyes almost glowing now. 

“Come back, beautiful. Come back to me.” 

She had to. She could feel the change in herself as his spell swept into her, feet turning with more grace than she possessed on her own. Her body almost danced for him and she felt herself sink back into the hot pool, relaxing against the underwater ledge again. 

“Now where did you think you were going?” Gabriel murmured, closing the distance between them. His slick tail curled around her calves and ankles. “Where could you go?” 

“I…” It was laborious to speak, tongue heavy, jaw slack. He didn’t really want her to answer, it seemed. 

“There is nowhere to go,” he assured softly. The clawed hand drifted down her cheek, then grasped her jaw, tightening until he aroused a whimper. The familiar scents of home washed over her, but they felt weaker now, more clearly artificial. 

“What...do you want?” she breathed, fighting against the deepening sensation of calm. It was so much more clearly a trick now, and Gabriel was narrowing his eyes, watching more closely as she saw through the hypnosis. The other clawed hand was caressing her thigh.

“You, my treasure,” he replied, in a growl. “You want to stay, don’t you? You want to let go and let me take care of you. I take care of things that are mine.”

The offer felt enticing, and her most conscious side screamed that it was impossible. Even if there were a reliable way for Gabriel to provide food and potable water, she didn’t want to be a pet.

“No,” she managed, “I want to go home.” 

“This is your home,” he murmured, kissing her again. She tensed, feeling his sharp teeth on her swollen lower lip. “Cariña, relax. Let me make you feel better.” 

A clawed finger touched the folds of her sex and Angela gasped. Hot craving filled her gut. 

“Ah, I--” she breathed, and he kissed her mouth deeper. A moan escaped when his finger pushed in, her toes curling. Maybe she could let him touch her more. Her hips rolled lightly for more sensation, but what she felt was a sharp claw tip scratching her inner wall. 

/That/ hurt, and it snapped her into true consciousness like cold water dumped on her face. She squirmed away from the creature as the severity of the situation finally dawned on her fully conscious self; she was naked in a dark cave with a sea monster for only God knew how long. /Fuck/. 

It seemed to notice her awakening, but not quickly enough. She planted her hands on its chest and squirmed away, forcing distance between the two of them to get his finger out of her when she lifted her bottom onto the ledge. Angela backpedalled, clumsy in panic.

“Get back here,” it snarled, the voice no longer sensual and smooth. The guttural growl made her heart drop and she cried out when its claws gripped her leg, dragging her back into the pool. 

-

A siren’s methods to ensnare prey weren’t truly meant to keep a captive, but to catch a meal that would quickly die. The pheromones were produced in short supply, the hypnosis immensely mentally taxing. Gabriel scolded himself for being foolish and keeping her alive so long. 

But he liked this human. She was fascinating and pretty and warm, soft skin and a soft belly and breasts, and fun to play with and hold. The desire to eat her diminished when she proved to be such a magnificent source of pleasure, and he thought it would do well to add a pet to his collection of treasures. The instinct he was created with didn’t naturally warn against the idea, but he supposed he should have known better. Clearly, he had overestimated his own power of hypnosis, and /that/ frustrated him almost as much as Angela trying to flee. There was nowhere to go and it was stupid to try. 

He snaked his hand out and his claws punctured the flesh of her calf, dragging her back into the water before she got too far. The human thrashed and he saw her back and sides getting scraped against the rough salt deposits, but she paid no attention to it. 

What kind of terrible noise was she making all of the sudden? There was water leaking out of her eyes and she made awful wails, nothing like the loud noises she made before when he claimed her. There was nothing pleasurable about these noises, shrill and ugly and desperate.

But Gabriel had never heard his prey’s cries before. They were always under the water by the time they realized what was happening to them, and those screams were unfamiliar and muffled.

“Stop,” he snarled, desperate to ease the discomfort her sobs brought. The human kept flailing and he realized she was trying to beat him away with her fists, but it hardly caused him pain. His skin was thick and she was clearly weakened by the circumstance, unable to focus her fear into any productive violence. “Stop! Now!” 

“Let go of me!” the human shouted, voice hoarse. She kicked and her knee struck violently against his gut and tail. 

/Fine/. If she couldn’t listen, then he had no more use for her, even if she was fun to play with. Gabriel took a fistful of her wet hair and used it to throw her head aside, face burying in her shoulder as he sank his teeth into the waiting flesh. 

Angela thrashed and /shrieked/, and the siren felt it was even worse than her sobbing. It was such a shrill, offensive sound he almost recoiled away, before the splash of hot blood hit his tongue. It was sweet and satisfying for only a moment, though. His gut churned, every instinct screaming to go for her throat next to silence the noise. He could take her under the water to the bottom-most underwater level of his lair and let the ocean kill his prey for him, or he could break her neck himself. The decision was not so easy, though. Humans seemed to suffer when they inhaled water, but he also couldn’t listen to her crying anymore. It might not be so bad, but he coupled with this creature. That made her uncomfortably different from his other victims, and it provoked a nausea in his stomach that was painfully unfamiliar.

-

Oh god, she couldn’t die like this. Not eaten alive in a cave where no one would ever find her. Hysteria had long since taken over when the creature sank his teeth into her flesh, and Angela threw her head back, just trying to focus on not going into shock. If she did, she had no chance of survival. Not that her odds felt good anyways. 

But then the grip on her arms released. Through her bleary vision she saw the thing drawing away from her, his mouth wet and red with her blood. His teeth were red, his lips were red. Bile rose in the back of her throat, stomach churning, and if there had been anything in it she might have vomited in pure horror.

But he wasn’t holding her anymore. Why? Instinct said it didn’t matter, and Angela forced herself up out of the pool again, staggering out of his reach as fast as she could to avoid being grabbed. She stumbled as far away as she could and then sank against the mossy wall, curling into herself to shield her blood-dripping shoulder. Sharp stones dug into her bare ass and thighs, but it was nothing compared to the pain left by the thing’s teeth. Thick rivulets of blood were running down her breast and dripping onto the rolls of her wet belly. 

“Cariña,” Gabriel said lowly, eyes not leaving her. 

She grabbed a handful of moss and forced it against the wound, hand shaking violently. Her fingers were wrinkled and pruny from being submerged so long, skin paper white. 

“Cariña. Come back.” 

/Not again/. Angela squeezed her eyes shut, wondering if there was any point in trying to staunch the bleeding. The creature was probably in a frenzy at the sight of so much blood. 

Gabriel was swimming back and forth along the shoreline. Could he get onto land? Would he be able to drag himself that far out of the water and reach her? 

“Angela,” he crooned, and she struggled to harden her resolve, teeth chattering against the pain and cold. “I am so sorry mi cariña, come back.” 

“Stay away from me!” she ordered, unable to restrain a sobbing cry. She wanted to throw something at it but didn’t truly have the strength. Not that it mattered---gold wasn’t a hard metal, throwing a goblet at him probably wouldn’t do much damage at all if her thrashing fists. Angela dropped the handful of moss before stripping off more from the wall, pressing it again to her bloody bite. The bleeding was only stopping a little. The wound was deep. 

She wasn’t sure how long she watched him swim back and forth in silence. It felt inevitable that sooner or later her gaze would leave him too long and he would be on her---but it didn’t happen. He swam back and forth, silent, tail swishing. No more calls for her to return or gentle temptations. He seemed to stay until she was able to stop crying, and then disappeared under the dark water, out of sight. It was likely he was lurking just under the surface, but she had to focus on stopping the bleeding before he returned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone!! thank you all so much for all the love you've given this fic! <3 
> 
> warnings applicable to this chapter are: brief animal death (a trout :c), dubcon/hypnosis, NSFW, & blood 
> 
> please enjoy!

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. With no exposure to the outside sky and her phone seemingly somewhere at the bottom of the ocean where she fell in, time crawled to a slow drag. 

The bleeding on her shoulder had mostly stopped, but the pain was still there and made it hard to drift to sleep. All the hard rock underneath her made it even more impossible to get comfortable enough to rest and gain back her strength. 

If a patient had come to her with a bite wound like the one Gabriel gave her, she would have given them anaesthetic and a tetanus and rabies shot, and stitches and some serious bandaging...and maybe a blood transfusion. She thought she might kill for access to proper medical care in that moment. 

When she did manage to fall asleep, it didn’t last very long. She slept lightly, disturbed by every tiny sound, ever icy drip of water on her bare skin from the stalactites above. The cave was beginning to feel a lot less warm and tropical, now that she was naked and wet without dry clothes or a towel. 

Surely the creature couldn’t expect to keep her there. Already, she was suffering from the lack of necessities. But, she thought, he might not understand her need for those things. He might not see her as something worth caring for at all, if he was just going to eat her anyways. But he had the opportunity, his teeth had been buried in her shoulder, but he didn’t take it. There was nowhere for her to run to here, and it was clear the only exit was through what was likely a series of completely flooded tunnels. She would drown before she escaped---part of her wondered if drowning was worse than being eaten alive.

A splash at the edge of the water caught her attention and her heart spiked again. Angela forced herself to sit up, going deathly still, and then reached for the nearest chunk of sharp driftwood mixed in with the siren’s collection of treasure. It wouldn’t make much of a weapon, but she refused to go down without a fight. 

Gabriel hardly emerged, glancing at her briefly and then looking away. He tossed a dead, bloody fish onto the wet rocks, and it rolled a little closer to Angela. He looked at her again and she stared, clenching the driftwood even harder. 

Without a word, Gabriel sank under the dark surface again and disappeared. The fish was about halfway between the edge of the water and where she was pressed to the wall. It looked like some kind of trout, silver with an iridescent sheen of rainbow across its dulling scales. It was freshly dead. 

Did he want her to eat that? Oh god, he really didn’t know anything about the human diet. She had only ever eaten raw fish with Hanzo once, and that was sashimi, properly prepared. There was no way she was going to be able to eat that without making herself sick. She didn’t touch it. 

Angela rose, hunched over in pain from her shoulder’s deep wound. It was hard to walk. The movement made her head spin from the hunger and thirst, but she made it to her dress. She felt the fabric to see if it was still wet and indeed found that it remained damp, absolutely ruined from the salt water. 

It had been a party for Jack, organized by herself and some of her fellow Overwatch agents. He was being recognized by the UN for his work, and everyone was getting together to celebrate. She had been so excited; she went with Hanzo to find and buy her dress, quietly gushing about how she had never been to a yacht party. The man seemed mildly unimpressed and noted that he had been to many, thanks to his father’s business, and that there was nothing more special about a party on a boat than there was about a party on land. But it didn’t matter, it would be fun, she’d said. 

And it had been fun. At least, until she heard something over the water---it had sounded like screaming for help. In that moment she was hypnotized and ran to the edge of the ship, seeing an arm flailing in the dark water. A man, drowning. Without a second thought for her makeup or dress she grabbed the nearest live preserver and dove off the edge of the ship--and that was all she could remember before waking in Gabriel’s cave. 

Angela realized she had started to cry. Never in her life had she been so helpless, even in the midst of the omnic crisis. With her valkyrie suit and her teammates there was no monster they could not overcome together, but she was alone now. Despite all her training, she was at the mercy of a creature that didn’t even know she couldn’t eat a raw fish. 

\--

Gabriel emerged from the water quietly. His treasure would surely be pleased at the offering of food--he could show her how nice things could be for her. What creature wouldn’t want to have someone else hunt for her and bring her all the finest fish? What creature wouldn’t want to bask in his wealth and spend her days consumed with pleasure and happiness?

Not this one, apparently. 

His lip curled in offense at the ignored offering, getting dried up in the dirt on land. His captive was hunched by her discarded garment and crying again, making those terrible gutwrenching sounds. Was she still crying from the pain? Surely not, it wasn’t even close to the most grievous wound he could have inflicted. He hadn’t even taken away flesh. /Why/ was she still crying? 

“Angela,” he cooed over the water. He had eaten properly now, having consumed a wandering harborman and a school of fish. Their raw meat was much more satiating than sips of Angela’s life energy, and he was confident he could begin to regain control of her and the situation. The tendrils of his thought reached for her, trying to snare her mind again. 

She looked over, eyes wide. They were so deeply blue, like the ocean in the late morning. If only they weren’t so filled with fear. 

“Come to me. I am sorry I hurt you, let me take care of you,” he said, bringing his upper body into the hot pool to beckon her. “You are so cold, my treasure. Come and warm yourself.” 

Angela struggled against the command but couldn’t resist for long. She came to the hot spring, and Gabriel reached for her. His hands curled around her wrists and he sank her onto the water. 

“Please. Let go, don’t, do this,” she stammered, trembling hard enough to create tremors in the surface of the water. 

No matter what he said, he knew it wouldn’t soothe her. He had to /show/ her his intentions instead, and so he stayed silent, keeping her gently pinched between his body and the edge of the pool. His cool tongue ran up her wound, following the curve his teeth had left and wiping away the blood. The taste was a delicious benefit that urged him on, despite the initial whimpering and crying from the source. Gabriel licked the wound clean with long strokes, offering low and near submissive moans to show his apology. 

“What are you doing?” she whispered, but was starting to relax again. “Why are you doing that?” 

“/Why/ do you reject my gifts, treasure?” he breathed, with a growl of frustration. He gripped her jaw to look into her eyes. 

“Gifts?” she repeated, and Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “B-because, because…” He saw her look at the fish in rising panic. “I can’t...I cannot eat that.” 

“Why?” he demanded, insulted. 

“I-it’s raw, humans get sick when they eat raw fish,” she said, and he chortled in amusement when he saw her trying to sound confident. “I could get sick.” 

Gabriel pondered, curling his tail around her legs under the water. His lips grazed her throat and he thrilled in how he could feel her stiffen in fear---but if it were truly perfect, she would tense up with arousal instead, like she had on their first night together. “Very well,” he murmured. “What shall I bring you?” 

\--

The question was something of a surprise, and Angela hesitated. She wanted to demand release again, and tell him that there was no way she could survive down here, no matter what he brought her. But wrapped in his embrace, she knew it would be a dangerous thing to say. 

“Fruit?” she whispered softly. That could be brought underwater reasonably well, and would most likely be easy to knock out of delivery crates on docks. 

“Fruit?” he repeated. 

“Like uhm, apples, oranges, you know?” Angela said. His breath was icy against her skin where his licking moistened it. “O-or, anything, like that…” 

“I do not know that those are,” he replied, staring into her eyes for a moment. “....But...I will find them for you.” 

“You could find them at docks, where sailors are,” Angela said, hesitantly. 

“I will find them for you,” Gabriel agreed, and she felt him press into her more. A haziness was slipping over her and she gave in easily out of exhaustion.

The soft siren lips pressed to hers again, his short beard scratching her face. Those recognizably artificial scents of home and loved ones were back---and she allowed it to soothe her. It was so hard to focus on terror and pain and hopelessness that the alternative was heavenly.

“Yes, good,” he praised, kissing down her exposed throat. He was all over her in an instant, rubbing her thighs, massaging deep into the muscle as he spread them. “Yes.” 

“Be gentle,” she murmured, an order. She felt him lift her a little and glanced down to see his strange appendage in the water, the tip starting to penetrate again. Angela tensed and Gabriel dragged their hips flush together, sending a rush of pleasure up her body that twitched deep in her gut. “/Oh/.” 

The siren growled with pleasure into her ear, hooking his arm around her shoulders to keep her still. Angela squirmed her hips against the ticklish sensation penetrating her, groaning and leaning her head back as he began to thrust. 

“H-hah,” she gasped, stiffening from the appendage rubbing her clitoris. It curled inside her and she rocked her hips, still plagued with the rational knowledge deep down that she was in terrible trouble. Gabriel’s hypnosis was just effective enough that she could push it away for a short time. 

\--

Gabriel took his treasure many times that night. Watching her squirm reminded him of why she was worth all his trouble, why it was worth it to abstain from making her a meal, to beg for her forgiveness in the way that he had. Her cries made him feel more alive than he ever had, his own body racked with fantastic physical pleasures every second he was inside her. 

The other benefit of coupling with Angela so many times was that it clearly exhausted her. By the time he was finished with her, she rested easily and sank quickly into sleep in his arms. He wanted to stay and watch her, but surely when she woke she would be starving and expect some of the ‘fruit’ she mentioned. Gabriel laid her carefully so most of her body remained in the warmest waters, her head resting on her arms on the shore. Then, he swam away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone!! i just wanted to drop in another thank you for all your kind words in the comments, it means so so much to me <3 i hope you all enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> there are no warnings for this chapter that are different than previous uvu
> 
> (ps my tumblr is dalishpariah if you'd like to say hello! ^u^)

Gabriel had found something he believed to be fruit, swimming down through the flooded labyrinth with the ‘apples’. He had laid in wait in the early morning when the harbour workers loaded their delivery ships, and used his claws to climb the massive wooden dock. It was uncomfortable to be out of the water in the open air where he could be so easily seen, but he aroused little suspicion and was back in the sea with three of the red fruits before anyone noticed. 

He swam through the tunnels and then emerged on the surface, where Angela was laying on the mossiest area of ground between the treasure piles. It seemed that she had torn parts of the garment he captured her in to form a rough bandage of sorts over her shoulder wound, and was sleeping in a tight ball, the rest of the dress over her body as a blanket. 

Gabriel placed the apples by the hot spring and leaned on the rock shore to stare. Since she had arrived, dark circles were getting worse around her eyes, even though the makeup had long since worn away. Her soft pink porcelain skin was losing all of its colour, lips cracked and no longer plump and red. But why? Certainly she was hungry, and that would make her healthy again. 

“Mi cielto,” he called. “Angela. Wake up.”

She did, groaning softly, and looked up at him. There was less fear than before, but her hesitance remained. 

Gabriel rolled one of the apples towards her. “Eat, my dear.”

He was surprised to see her move so fast. She darted to grab the apple and immediately started to devour it, almost holding it like he held his prey. He supposed he would be just as ravenous if he hadn’t eaten for three days. Angela ate everything, including the apple core, and then grabbed the second one. 

Well, shit. It hadn’t been easy to get that food, and she was burning through it fast. He would need to get her more again tomorrow, an irritating chore. He supposed he had to figure out something more efficient. 

“...Thank you,” came her soft voice. She took the third apple and set it aside. 

Some of the colour was starting to return to her cheeks, and Gabriel pulled himself onto the land to get a closer look. Angela drew away from him slightly, and anger welled up in him at her ungrateful behaviour---but he suppressed it. 

“Come to me,” he told her, and after another moment of hesitation, she did. He didn’t need to control her this time, though, and that soothed some of his frustration. She came close, staying on the land, and stayed still for him to kiss her. Her lips were milk and honey to him, her breathe warm and satisfying. 

Angela didn’t move off the land without prompting, but eventually sank into the cold water in his arms. She shivered, tensing up at the colder waves sloshing on her warm flesh, and he chuckled. 

“Warm blooded creatures are so sensitive,” he mused, kissing her neck. Holding her above the deep water was nice---he could show his strength in holding her well above the surface without support. “Does it feel that cold to you?” 

“Yes,” she murmured back, starting to relax again. “But, it isn’t hard to get used to, and the hot spring helps.” 

“Very good.” Gabriel kissed her neck and started to sip away some of her energies, savouring the sweet taste. She was especially potent and had a flavour like nothing else he ever experienced. 

“What are you doing?” Angela whispered, and he figured she realized he wasn’t just giving lingering kisses anymore.

“Tasting you,” he murmured. “It won’t hurt you, cariña.” 

“It...feels really strange…” she said softly, weakening. Gabriel sucked off a few more wisps of her energy and then kissed her lips, tracing his long tongue along the lower one. Angela squirmed and swallowed, but began to kiss him back, trying to tread water so her head wouldn’t sink any lower near the surface. 

A sharp stench filled Gabriel’s nostrils and he twitched, twisting his head around. He held Angela closer and she grunted at the tightened grip.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and the siren swam her back to the shore, shoving her back onto the rock. “Ow, Gabrie-” 

“Go over there,” he ordered, pointing to the spot against the wall, farthest from the water. She stared in confusion but did so, sopping wet. “Hide.” 

He heard her try to question him, but he was already diving under the water, darting through the caves towards where the pheromones competing with his emitted. The stronger they smelled, the more his territorial nature flared, claws and teeth bared. 

Gabriel left the entrance of the cave, looking around in the darkness. Weak sunlight filtered down over the coral, but there were no fish to be seen, as if they too sensed the presence of another predator.

\--

Angela wasn’t sure what to be more scared of; Gabriel, or whatever it was that he ordered her to hide from. Of course, she had already looked for hiding places, and went to the best one--behind a treasure pile big enough to keep her out of sight of the water. She sank down, cold, and tried to listen--but could only hear the stalactites dripping water and the water lapping against the rock. 

She wished she had something to keep herself entertained. If she weren’t in this predicament with Gabriel, she would have been much more upset about so foolishly jumping off the boat to rescue an assumed drowning victim without even taking her phone out of her bra. Not that it mattered now, most likely at the bottom of the ocean. But, it would have been nice to play solitaire between bouts of despair and whenever Gabriel decided to come toy with her. The loneliness and boredom was becoming so overwhelming that she found herself delighted when he emerged from the depths when she knew she ought to be terrified. 

Angela sank down against the treasure and sighed, anxiety starting to rise as time stretched. Why was he taking so long? She had to assume there was something dangerous---was he fighting it? Was he hurt? Her most compassionate side worried about his safety, but her most rational side knew clearly that if Gabriel died, she would die very quickly from dehydration. The apples moisture content helped, but she could easily recognize the symptoms of dehydration becoming painfully prominent. Dying of dehydration seemed worse than being eaten alive, at least. But perhaps if he didn’t come back, she might try to swim out. Drowning would be better than dying without at least making an attempt. 

With nothing else to do, Angela dozed off, unable to resist thinking of her warm, soft bed, her cozy quarters at the watchpoint. The military style accommodations weren’t the most luxurious, but the small room and standardized furniture had become home because it was often filled with the other agents---her family. She wondered if they thought she was dead, or if they were still looking for her. 

That line of thought was going to make her upset again, and she tried to force it away. Crying would speed up the rate of dehydration even more. 

“Angela?” 

She could hardly believe how relieved she was to hear his voice, and quickly emerged from around the pile. Talking to another person was /so/ much better than being trapped with her thoughts and all the cave’s dripping sounds. 

“What happened?” she asked, inspecting him for injury. The scars on his face that had always been there weren’t accompanied by any fresh wounds, which she took as a good sign. Knowing he would beckon her, Angela went to the edge of the water and knelt down on the stone. 

“It was nothing for you to concern yourself with,” Gabriel said, looking more pleased now. His eyes were warmer, features softened. “Now, where were we?” 

“I…” Of course he wouldn’t tell her. Fuck. But she slipped back into the cool water and sank down to soak her hair, slicking it away from her face so it would dry away from her cheeks and stop getting in her way. When she rose she wiped the water from around her eyes, the saltwater burning the healing shoulder wound. It wasn’t good to move it so much, and she knew that, but couldn’t bring herself to care. She hadn’t torn open the scabs under the bandages. Even if she had, it didn’t feel like it mattered much. 

Gabriel wrapped his arms around her, one under her bottom and the other around her waist to lift her. He leaned up to kiss her slowly, head tilting. 

“Mi cariña, I can feel you fretting. These things do not concern you,” he said, rubbing her thigh. 

“It’s not...just that Gabriel,” she murmured softly, trying to work up the courage to make another request of him. 

His lips paused at her neck. It felt like something was drawing away any remaining strength in her, like his kisses sucked it away. “Well what is it?” he said, seeming unwilling to stop feeding while she stammered out whatever it was she wanted to say. He tilted his head to burrow into the other side of her neck, sucking softly on the skin there. 

“Humans need to drink fresh water, or we will die,” she said, resting her hands on his chest. He paused and she swallowed, heart picking up speed. Her mind filled with possibilities--was the request too much trouble than she was worth? Would he kill her? His silence was deafening. “N-not salt water,” she clarified. 

“I know what you meant,” he growled. 

“I wouldn’t ask if...if I didn’t need it,” Angela whispered, glancing around instinctively for an escape. She could feel a terrified sweat breaking out on her forehead, solely from the fear of being bitten by those awful teeth again. The first one still ached horribly. “Please, Gabriel. I will die without it.” 

“...Fine.” Gabriel kissed the tender spot under her jaw, beginning to caress her thigh again. Angela relaxed, breathing out in relief. “I think I know where I can find...bottles of it. Your species drops many things in the ocean. Sometimes they fall in from their carriers still full.” 

“Thank you,” she murmured, nodding. She was so desperately thirsty she wanted to beg him to go get it /now/, but didn’t. Asking at all already felt like a risky push. 

“You are very high maintenance,” Gabriel replied, hands running to her inner thighs and squeezing. Angela tensed. “When I do this, all this spending my energy traversing the sea for you, will you be grateful?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding quickly. Bullshit. If she had any means to defend herself she would tell him he wouldn’t need to spend so much energy taking care of hers if he would only return her to shore. “I promise.” 

“Good.” He kissed her, then swam her over to rest in the hot spring, swimming in between her thighs to rest there. Sharp teeth grazed her neck in an open-mouthed kiss and she tensed. “Angela. You’re still afraid of my touch.” 

“...Yes,” she admitted softly, and squeaked in shock when he lifted her. He set her bottom on the edge of the pool. 

“Lay back,” he growled, fingers digging into her thighs.

Angela obeyed so instinctively that she had to wonder if he was controlling her or if it had just become natural to her. She laid back, feeling water drip down her body, and adjusted her head so the rock underneath it wasn’t digging in anymore.

Gabriel pulled and adjusted her to his liking, resting her knees on his shoulders. She felt so terribly exposed, hot sex naked and chilled by the cave air and---/his breath/. 

“A-ah!” That was his tongue, pressing against her. Angela moaned and closed her eyes, toes curling as his nose buried into the curls of her brown pubic hair. His fingers gripped her thighs and she saw his tail swishing around in the water, face dipping lower. “Oh…Gabriel.” 

The last time anyone did this for her was an especially experienced girl at university in the bathroom of a sorority party, and /that/ was a long time ago. It felt torturously good and she succumbed, relaxing and moaning. There was no hint of his sharkish teeth, just a long, hot, very flexible tongue penetrating her most delicate places and probing her clitoris. Her toes curled, squirming her hips in hopes of receiving more.

“I believe this will prove my intentions to you, will it not?” he growled, moaning lowly. 

Angela whimpered at his voice and found herself nodding, even if that wasn’t fully the truth. It would take more than this to gain her trust, considering he was holding her prisoner. “Yes,” she said softly, to satisfy him. 

“Good.” His claws dug into the soft flesh of her thighs but then softened when she tensed up, lips pausing to kiss the mark he left. He hadn’t drawn blood, but kissed there softly in apology, then began to massage her inner thighs again. His mouth returned to her sex and pushed his tongue into her curiously. “Mmh.” 

“That feels good,” she murmured softly, shivering. “Ah, nn…” 

“When you finish, I want you to say my name,” he murmured. “You are mine.” 

“Okay,” Angela breathed, and nodded again. She arched and squirmed, running her hands down her breasts and belly to let her fingers curl into that long inky black hair. 

Gabriel shot her a glance from his position between her thighs when she squeezed his hair and she hesitated, loosening her fingers. 

“May I?” she whispered. “Please?” 

“Yes,” he decided, and returned to her with a low moan. That draining feeling was returning to her as Gabriel sated himself on more of her energy, but in that moment she didn’t care. 

“Ah, Gabriel,” she moaned, deeply relieved at the rush of pleasure her orgasm brought. She laid her head back and let herself let go, fingers in his hair and thighs tensing tightly. He continued his movements until she finished her shivering, then pulled away. 

“You are so beautiful,” Gabriel reminded her, crawling up to kiss her. She could taste herself on his mouth but returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm before he pulled away. “Now rest.” 

She swallows and sank back, licking her lips slightly. “Will---will you bring me water?” 

“Yes, yes,” he replied, running his hand back through his hair. “When you wake it will be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mood song is "toxic" by melanie martinez [britney spears cover]


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! thanks again for your continued support!! <3 there's no extra warnings/new things to mention for this chapter ^u^ 
> 
> moodsong: the siren by nightwish !

“You know we don’t have the resources for this, Jack.”

Jack Morrison turned. Captain Amari was there, her thin lips set in a grim line, arms crossed across her chest. 

“I’m not leaving her out there,” he replied, lowering his binoculars. “She wouldn’t leave a single one of us behind, and you know it.” 

“She’s /dead/, Jack,” Ana replied. The Strike Commander wondered if the woman was ever uncomfortable with her role as the grim realist, even in the face of a friend’s death. “It has been a week. She drowned.” 

“She---Angela is---resourceful. She found a way,” he insisted, looking away. He couldn’t believe Angela was dead, not yet. He had seen her, the way she kicked off her high heels and swan dived into the black ocean. It had been so sudden that no one had even a second to ask her what the hell she was doing. The doctor had grabbed a life preserver before her leap and threw it off the boat, but by the time Jack reached the railing to look over, she was gone. The image of the black water, empty except the red and white floatation ring, remained burned in his mind. 

“I’m not doubting her resourcefulness, Jack.” 

“Sh---she’s got cybernetics. She could have survived,” he continued, stepping slightly away when Ana came to stand at his side. 

“Her cybernetic spine does not allow her to breathe water, Commander.” She sighed and leaned against the railing. “She would not want you to torture yourself like this.” 

“She wouldn’t want us to leave her! Ana, do you even hear yourself? We can’t /leave her/, God,” Jack breathed, his composure cracking. “We---have to at least find the...the body, Ana.” 

“The body is at the bottom of the ocean. She is gone.” Ana placed a firm, gloved hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. “I say this not to be heartless, but because you are in denial.”

\--- 

Deep beneath the surface in the air pocket of Gabriel’s cave, Angela was still alive. She sat now on her dress, which had taken on many utilitarian purposes---bedding, a pillow, strands ripped to be a bandage, a strip of it to tie her hair back. She supposed it really was worth all five hundred francs. She had worried she wouldn’t get much use out of it, considering how few formal events she attended, but she had been wrong.

“You are looking better,” Gabriel said, and she glanced down to see him staring at her. She had finished off an entire water bottle and was on to the second one, a small pile of garbage accumulating by her side---the wrapper of a soggy granola bar the siren apparently stole from beach-goer’s, the water bottle, an apple core. 

“I am feeling better,” Angela replied, but was careful not to sound too enthusiastic. For someone holding her prisoner, Gabriel had been kind, but it didn’t change the fact that he was a captor, and not a friend. She had seen many cases of Stockholm Syndrome in her work as a medical doctor and as a hero of Overwatch, and she often checked herself for the symptoms. She knew she was exhibiting them---the rush of relief when she saw Gabriel emerge from the water was insurmountably present, but in her heart she knew it was because he isolated her. She was alone without him.

In truth, she was beginning to feel hopeful. Or at least, she tried to. Many times when she was alone she couldn’t keep from breaking into sobs at the hopelessness of her situation, at the knowledge that there was no survivable way to escape the cave and that everyone she knew probably thought she was dead, and had stopped looking for her. But once in awhile, when Gabriel looked at her, it felt like he no longer saw her as a piece of meat. His possessiveness was clear, but if she could survive long enough to show him her humanity, he might begin to feel guilt. At the same time, she was unsure if a creature like him was capable of true guilt. Yes, he had apologized for wounding her, and yes, he had licked the wound clean and brought her food and water, but it could just as easily have been to fulfill his own ulterior motive. 

Gabriel swam closer to her and Angela met him halfway at the shoreline, strengthening her resolve. Whether she wanted to go to him or not, he would ensure it happened, and she found it was better to go to him willingly. It made him more gentle. 

“Mi cielto, you are cold,” he said lowly, running his hands up her thighs and feeling the goosebumps. “Get into the hot spring before you freeze.” 

“Never drying off isn’t going to make me warmer, Gabriel,” she replied. She was hesitant to go into the hot spring--the water was his territory, where he had all the power and she had none. At least on the land, she could try to fight if his temper appeared, or he decided he had had enough of her. 

“You are so difficult,” the siren murmured, placing his hands on the land to pull himself up and meet her eyes. There was no distance between them, his wet tail now pressed to her knees as his lips brushed hers.

“I think I know more about my biology than you do,” Angela replied pointedly, setting her jaw when he rested his claws on her knee.

“Shh, shh.” Gabriel snaked his arms around her and pulled her closer, and the doctor tightened her muscles in discomfort at the coolness of the ocean’s surface on her bare belly. “I want to show you something.”  
Angela shivered at the water getting higher up, squirming slightly against his hold to keep her head above the water. “Show me what?” 

“Shh.” Gabriel moved his hands to her shoulders and shoved Angela below the surface. 

The woman gasped at the coldness and immediately inhaled, clawing for the top of the water. Her eyes flung wide open in the briny water and stung, blurry as she panicked and tried to swim past Gabriel. His hand gripped her hair and yanked her head back, opening her mouth and bringing in a flood of more water before his lips pushed against hers in a hard, open-mouthed kiss. 

It was then that Angela could breathe again, as if Gabriel had sucked all the ocean water from her throat and lungs. The sensation wasn’t the same as a breath of oxygen, but the panic in her body subsided and she relaxed in his arms. When her eyes opened again, she could see under the water clearly. Gabriel’s face remained close to her eyes, eyes glowing much brighter than they did above on the rocks. The darkness of the water revealed clusters of scattered bioluminescent freckles---purple, like his eyes, against the coal grey of his flesh. He was even more beautiful. 

The clawed hand took hers and Angela let him guide her deep into the pool, noting that it was much easier to control her buoyancy with the aid of Gabriel’s magic. She sank down with him until the surface darkened, and saw that the bottom of the pool was a thick layer of black volcanic sand. On top of the sand, there were many bones picked clean, human skeletons resting amongst bioluminescent plant life and even more treasure. Under the ledge created by the rocks where Angela usually sat at the edge of the pool was a massive coral, dead where Gabriel had carved out the top and filled it with a nest of seaweed. 

Breathing water was hard enough for Angela’s scientific background to accept, but all of this was starting to overwhelm her. So little of the ocean had been unexplored by humans, and yet Gabriel was hiding in considerably shallow waters when they hadn’t even scraped the surface of the deepest depths. It made her wonder what else there was to behold, and if Gabriel was the only one of his kind, or if there were more creatures like him.

\--- 

Observing Angela’s fascination was immensely satisfying, but Gabriel wasn’t sure why. The satisfaction he typically received from humans was nourishment by nature. Of course, mating with Angela was satisfying too, but he had never bothered to waste his time with that before. Watching her wonder and touch at the coral and the plants and his home with wide eyes was...endearing. Sickeningly endearing.

He let her hand go to allow her to explore and settled in to the nest of seaweed to watch her, making a gesture to suggest she should explore. Angela hesitated and he lightly pushed her shoulder, and she swam away. He expected that she would admire all the gold; it was an impressive collection, and humans were known to be even greedier than sirens. To his surprise, however, it was the weeds that caught her attention. She was running her fingers overtop the plants, noting how they responded to her touch with brightening light. She even seemed to know not to touch the spiked urchins he cultivated nearest his bed to protect himself from predators.

But his spell couldn’t last forever, and soon he noticed Angela begin to get short of breath. He had been so busy enjoying watching her interact with his home that he had forgotten she wasn’t naturally meant to breathe water, and suddenly she trying to swim up for air. Gabriel shot to her side with all the speed he could muster and hooked his arm around her waist, darting up towards the surface. When her face broke the surface, Angela gasped, sucking in the air with a cough. 

Gabriel brought her to the hot spring pool to let her catch her breath, where she gasped in lungfuls of air with such need that he began to worry for a moment. The water she had inhaled when he first submerged her came up next, and she coughed and spit it up with what smelled like human stomach acid and chunks of food. He washed it away with the water and curled his tail around her legs, touching her cheek gently. 

“Oh...ow.” Angela coughed, face reddened as if she was embarrassed. Gabriel moved her jaw to look at him. 

“I didn’t mean to harm you,” he said after a moment, and felt himself frown. An apology was at the tip of his tongue and he held it back. 

“I-it’s fine,” she said softly, holding her chest and licking her lips, panting. “I--thank you. For showing me your home.” 

The gratitude was appreciated, especially considering this creature so rarely was grateful for his gifts. “You’re welcome,” he told her, running his hand down her neck. He enjoyed feeling her pulse and the warmth it seemed to bring to her skin. “Are you satisfied?” 

“Yes,” she replied softly, reaching to grab the half-empty water bottle and drink. She had likely thrown up any of the fresh water she had drank when her body expelled the salt water. Gabriel watched her drink and waited until she seemed sated, then ran his hand down her arm to ease it into the water. To the cold-blooded siren, the desire to leech away her warmth was undeniable. He held her in his cool grasp and pressed their bodies flush, skin to skin.

Angela had grown more compliant, but it didn’t hurt to ease his control into her thoughts a little to assure some enthusiasm. “Can you relax now?” he said, a soft growl. 

“Mmh,” she hummed, an affirmative noise. Gabriel kissed her throat and brushed his tongue along it to taste her skin under the salt water, again sucking away her energy and weakening her. It was how he greatest preferred to end his days now, enjoying his pet and drinking her up. It still wasn’t as useful to a hungry belly as raw meat, but the combination of his hunted prey in schools of fish and harbormen and Angela’s life force left him deeply content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tied myself to the wheel  
> The winds talk to my sails,  
> not me  
> "The Siren"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all ya'll mercymaker fans out there are in for a treat this chapter & the next chapter! my irl friends won't be surprised that i,,, a massive lesbian, had to have some good old fashioned girl on girl smut in my story. i'd like to reiterate my warnings though, this time for dubcon & hypnosis for this chapter and the next one.
> 
> thank you all again for reading & supporting me! <3

After finishing up with Angela, Gabriel left her to sleep. It amused him how easily she tired, but it didn’t surprise him. Her species was incredibly weak, even if it did occasionally produce breathtaking beauty. 

Breathtaking beauty that others wished to steal. He often scorned the greed of humanity, but was not ignorant to the selfishness of his own kind. An unknown presence had entered his territory many times, shortly after Angela’s arrival. It was his own foolishness that lured the stranger---spilling so much of her delectable blood into the open water had lured predators.

When his pet slept, he often patrolled the waters and coral at the entrance to his home, claws bared at the disturbance the unfamiliar pheromones evoked. Nothing ever showed itself, however. If it had been one of the non-siren creatures he shared his ocean homeland with, it would be a simple matter of spreading his pheromones again, and perhaps wounding it enough to remind it of whose territory it was in. Carnivorous fish rarely troubled him, less intelligent than sirens but smart enough to know when they were unwelcome. 

That was why he had determined it was another siren encroaching upon his territory. He frowned greatly upon uninvited guests in his waters, human and siren alike, and had killed many of both. 

But the lack of the other siren’s actual presence was...concerning. Gabriel had taken this cove from another siren that resided there before him, challenging her for the rich territory face to face. They battled gruesomely and he succeeded, killing her and disposing of her corpse in a volcanic gorge to ensure that any trace of her pheromones would be destroyed and replaced with his own in time. He too had been challenged many times for the territory, but won every time. 

If the intruder was a challenger, they would have made themselves clear already. No, the intruder was here to steal something more unique than his home. The paranoia of guarding his defenseless human had forced him to stay closer and closer to home to avoid leaving her alone---and the exhausted source of food was becoming apparent. He had eaten most of the fish within a kilometer of his cave, and that was as far as he dared to go in any direction, for fear that his Angela would be killed in his absence. 

Luckily, he was not a friendless creature. He dedicated another’s pheromones wafting through the water and recognized them as Amélie, swimming from his coral bedding and out into the network of tunnels to greet her. 

The other siren appeared to him quickly out of courtesy. Sneaking about was suspicious and offensive. 

“Gabriel,” she said, bright amber eyes lighting the darkness around her face. He felt a silky tendril of her hair brush his arm, so long that it seemed to drift with a mind of its own. 

“You came,” he said. For all the gratitude he expected of Angela, he struggled to show it himself.

“I questioned what could be so valuable you would ask me to guard it. Now I do not,” she purred, swimming by him. She could smell Angela too, and Gabriel bared his teeth slightly. 

“You will not make yourself known to her. You will frighten her,” he growled, and Amélie’s sweet, musical chuckle filled his ears. 

“But I want to see her,” she replied, twirling over gracefully and grazing the bottom of the pool. She scattered a handful of the black sand thoughtfully. “If I am to be doing you this favour...I believe you owe me.” 

Gabriel growled, circling her. “No.” 

“I just want to look,” she replied, dark lips curling with a smirk. “And perhaps a taste.” 

“/No/.” 

“When did you become so greedy?” Amélie teased, and ran her hands up his chest. “You do not wish to share with your friend, after all we have been through together?” 

“She doesn’t belong to you. Stay below the surface, and when I return from my hunt, you will go,” he ordered, jerking away from her touches with a snarl. “That is all you will do.”  
Amélie drew herself closer to him. “Just a taste,” she crooned. “Not even of her flesh. I will be more motivated to protect this...pet of yours if I have a personal stake in her survival, no?”

Gabriel growled. “I will give you something else.” 

“I don’t /want/ something else. And now that I know where she is, what is to stop me from taking what I want without your permission?” she taunted, gliding away from his reach. 

“You will lose this battle,” he snarled, baring his teeth and claws in threat. “Back off.” 

“And then who will guard her?” Amélie smirked. “There is a reason you called me first. I am the most trustworthy of your friends.” 

“Sombra-” 

“-would devour her in an instant,” she finished for him. “Even you cannot control her.” Again, she ran her hands down Gabriel’s chest when his tail began to encircle hers, trapping them in close proximity. This time, she ran her claws along the flesh over his clavicles. “So...will you compromise, chérie? Or will you starve, guarding a meal you will not eat?” 

He bristled, glaring. His instinct said to tear her throat out for insulting and taunting him like this in his own territory, but he knew it would only worsen things. “Fine,” he growled, leaning above her. “A taste.” 

\--- 

Angela, having long since given up on staying dry for the day when she woke up halfway in the hot spring pool, leaned wearily against the edge, stacking Gabriel’s gold coins in piles of five. They were worn and lumpy from age, making them a challenge to stack. It was not the most entertaining activity in the world, but it was less boring than staring at the ceiling and fantasizing about hot food that hadn’t been carried through the water from a tourist’s beach bag. Soggy sandwiches and granola bars were getting less appetizing than they were even before she had to rely on them to live. She thought she would have killed for fast food. It didn’t even have to be good, greasy fast food---she just wanted something that was cooked and hot.  
“Angela,” Gabriel called from the edge of the water, and she glanced over. “I have...someone to introduce you to.” 

Angela hesitated in confusion, then saw another head emerge out of the water. A woman---not a human woman. Her eyes were brilliant amber in the darkness, her flesh deep purple and hair inky black like Gabriel’s. But Gabriel didn’t look pleased. 

“What---what’s wrong?” she asked, her mind supplying all the worst possible reasons another creature like Gabriel was making an appearance. She had spent some time wondering that if there /were/ other creatures like Gabriel, would they form communities, or live in solitary? Were they territorial? Did they interact with one another in non-hostile ways? 

“I have to leave you alone for a few hours,” Gabriel murmured, coming closer. “She will be guarding you.” 

But he’s left her alone for more than a few hours before. Or at least, she thought he had. Perhaps he had just been lurking under the water. “I…but...I don’t…” she said, unsure of what to say. The other siren was watching ravenously, and Angela was terrified to offend her. 

“You will be alright. I trust Amélie,” Gabriel said, and Angela felt that forced wash of relaxation coming over her. He was in her head again with more force than he had shown in days, and she was powerless to resist. “She wishes to taste you, mi cielto. Can she have a taste?” 

No. No! It was at the end of her tongue, terror pounding her heart so hard it felt like it was trying to break free of her ribcage. “I...Gabriel, please,” she said softly, glancing between him and the woman. She was starting to approach, eyes set like a predator on Angela’s neck and breasts. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, chérie,” Amélie promised. “You will like it. Men, they do not know how to please a woman like other women do.” 

Gabriel growled at her and Angela stared, weak from the hypnosis. She had to wonder if sirens had an equally complex relationship between sexes, in which male-presenting sirens were supposedly less aware of female anatomy than their own. More likely, this was a trick Amélie was employing to seduce her. It seemed improbable that sirens would have the same strict stereotype of men being clumsy lovers to women. 

“I’m not finished preparing her,” Gabriel snapped at her, and Angela tensed at the growl in his voice. 

“Go have your hunt, Gabriel. I will take excellent care of her,” Amélie promised. There was another cold hand on Angela then--slender and deep purple, stark against her pale breast. She felt herself beginning to slip under an even darker veil of hypnosis at Amélie’s influence. 

“No,” he said. 

“But aren’t you hungry?” she said, and kissed Angela’s throat slowly, beginning to sip at her energy. It was the same feeling Gabriel gave her, and the human tensed, panting anxiously. 

“He...already took some, earlier,” Angela said weakly. There was no scientific explanation for what it was that Gabriel fed off of, but she could tell when he had taken too much. She became weak and even more complicit until it regenerated, but Angela wasn’t sure if she could run out completely, or what would happen to her if she did. “Gabriel-” 

“I will not let her hurt you,” he promised. He sat against the ledge and lifted Angela into his lap, letting her back rest against his chest. “Do not be afraid. I am here.” 

“Not even going to give me privacy?” Amélie scowled, but proceeded to lean in and press Angela to herself. She was caught between the two cold bodies, able to feel the female siren’s dark nipples press against her. “Ah, well. I will still enjoy this.”

“Don’t take too much,” Angela ordered, fidgeting a little even as Gabriel began to pet her cheek and jaw. 

“I will take what I please, chérie,” she replied lowly, kissing under her ear. “It is Gabriel who tells me when to stop.” 

“I’m not his property,” Angela breathed, voice tinged with her own snarl. She had never heard her own voice so deeply primal. 

“Ohoho, this one is cocky,” Amélie snarled, nipping Angela’s neck. She grunted and twisted away, and Gabriel gave a grunt of warning. “I like her.” 

“Don’t bite or I will bite you a lot harder,” he growled, and Amélie chuckled amusedly. She leaned in to softly lick and kiss the spot she nipped, prompting Angela to squirm.

“Don’t you want to see me give her incentive to play nice?” she murmured, casting a glance at Gabriel. 

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” he ordered, and Angela shivered at his breath in her ear. The other siren ignored his demand and slipped her hands under the water to Angela’s inner thighs, prompting a whimper of surprise. 

“But she wants me to touch her,” she crooned. “Feel how she tenses. Give her what she wants.” 

Angela wasn’t sure what she wanted, actually. A strange part of her felt compelled that she should be resisting---not for a lack of desire, but to be loyal to Gabriel. /Why/ did she want to be loyal to him? She squeezed her eyes shut at the internal conflict, wondering now if it was Stockholm Syndrome or a sense of loyalty. 

“She belongs to me,” Gabriel snapped, and Angela gasped when Amélie brushed her fingers over the folds of her sex. 

“I’m not trying to take her,” she replied softly, kissing down Angela’s breasts. She nipped and left little red marks in a trail, then sucked softly on her nipple for a moment. “I told you, it is just a taste. I would not mind if you wished to join us.” 

“No. I have no desire for you,” he scowled back, biting his words off like an insult. 

“Oh well, more for me then, hm?” she purred, licking along the column of Angela’s throat. “She is delicious, Gabriel. You have my word I will protect her.” 

“Fine.” Gabriel moved so suddenly that Angela was surprised, jostled out of his lap as if he couldn’t wait to be away. 

“You’re leaving?” she replied anxiously, looking over. She saw that her desire for him to stay pleased him, but was not enough to make him stay.  
“Only for a while, my treasure,” he replied, voice still gravelly with threat at Amélie. “I need to eat, but I will be quick. Then I will be back. I promise.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bonus mercymaker chapter ✨ uni has been hectic for me lately & lots of academic writing has been taking up my time, but i still hope to write lots of fic in my free time ^u^ please enjoy!

When Gabriel disappeared under the water, Amélie chuckled tauntingly and purred. Angela could feel the amber eyes studying her and drinking in her image. She couldn’t have felt more as if she was on display, still naked in the water. 

“Relax, chérie,” she murmured, lifting Angela into her lap. She held her thighs, dragging her close to drag her hot bare sex on the cool violet-black tail. “I said I am not going to harm you. Don’t you want to have fun with me?”

Angela swallowed and bit her lip, letting Amélie do as she wished without struggling. Her slender hands came to squeeze her breasts firmly and Angela whimpered, letting her head rest back. 

“Yes...yes you do.” 

Gabriel trusted her, she reminded herself. And Gabriel felt like she was his property, or his pet or lover or…something. She wasn’t certain, but she hoped that meant his judgement could at least be trusted on leaving her alone with this stranger. 

“What do you mean by...having a taste?” she whispered, as Amélie nipped her earlobe. She whimpered, feeling a cold tongue run up the shell of her ear. The crusty salt deposits on the edge of the pool dug into the softness of her naked back. 

“You are going to like it,” she cooed, letting her hand run down to cup between Angela’s thighs. She kissed her to silence her soft cry and moaned, biting her lip. “I am not so cruel, to hurt you when you are so helpless against me.”

Angela swallowed. She was certain Gabriel didn’t intend to allow Amélie to get so intimate with her, but she was unable to deny her rising arousal. Maybe it was just the mind control, but it had also been too long since another woman touched her. She squirmed to spread her thighs and Amélie crooned her delight, rewarding her with a slender finger pressing inside of her. 

“A-ah, oh my,” she breathed, curling her toes under the hot water. With her free hand, the siren grabbed a handful of blonde hair, gripping tightly to force Angela to sit upright, torso stretching to meet her. “Oh!” 

A second finger went into Angela and she whimpered louder, feeling a sharp claw scratch her inner wall. Amélie held her tighter, thrusting her fingers slowly and forcing her tongue between Angela’s lips. “Open your mouth,” she growled, breathy. 

She did, parting her teeth to let the siren force her tongue in. Angela tried to touch her tongue to Amélie’s and participate more in the kiss, but suddenly that intense draining sensation filled her again and she lost her strength. A whining moan emerged and she felt herself go limp, starting to sweat, body flushing with heat as what felt like her reserve of energy starting running dry. There was no strength left in her body, but her hips rutted sporadically and unintentionally at the fingers rubbing inside her.

Amélie drew away from the kiss to smirk, letting go of Angela’s soft blonde locks. “Now, chérie…” She lifted her to lay her back on the shore, hopping up beside her. She crawled on top of Angela, that heavy violet tail weighing down between her legs and giving her friction she was desperately grateful to grind against.

“I...you’re taking too much,” Angela breathed between moans. She couldn’t find the will to squirm anymore, especially not when those purple fingers started to vigorously rub around her clit. Any words in her mouth dissolved into a moaning cry.

“Have faith in yourself, delicious creature,” she breathed, clutching Angela’s hair. The direct clitoral stimulation was relentless and brutal, making her gasp and cry out desperately. 

“It, is too much,” she gasped, hips bucking hard. The pleasure came in rough and painful bursts, clitoris swollen and red. 

“You like it, my sweet,” Amélie said, voice like dripping honey. Her fingers dipped in again and she used her palm to grind against the sensitive pearl, prompting near gasping squeals. 

“Please, I-I can’t, take it,” she gasped, face contorted into a grimace. It felt so good it hurt, skipping the border between torture and pleasure every second. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and she listened to her own cries echoing louder as Amélie ignored them. When she came, Angela near screamed, arching her back as white hot pleasure wracked her body. The siren gripped one of her wrists by her head to keep her arm from thrashing and smirked as her prey became a shivering puddle.

“Poor girl,” she crooned, kissing Angela’s exposed throat. Angela gasped and swallowed, breathless with the aftershocks of orgasm. “But so fascinating.” 

“F-fascinating?” she whispered back, and jerked her hips away when Amèlie pressed the pad of her thumb to her oversensitive clitoris. “Gah!” 

“Fascinating,” she repeated, smirking. The tail came up between Angela’s thighs and she noticed the contrast between her pale skin and the iridescence of Amélie’s scales, thinking she might like a dress in that shade. “So exhausted already, and yet I am not finished with you.”

“You...said just a taste,” she breathed, not wanting to upset Gabriel. /That/ was a weird thought. Partially, she didn’t want him to get in a violent fight out of jealousy. 

“Enough worrying, you won’t be in trouble,” she purred, and dragged Angela back into the water to sit her on the hot springs ledge. Soft hands gripped her shoulders to maneuver her onto her knees to face the sitting siren on land. “Now you can taste me.” 

A rush of arousal consumed Angela and she whimpered, flexing her mind just a moment under Amélie’s control. She thought if she tried she could break it, like snapping a pencil---massive resistance, but then if she pushed hard enough, it would break. But those thoughts were outstaged by lust, and she submitted and rested her lips over the strange cloaca at the top of her tail. At first thinking it would be foul, she pressed in her tongue and realized she tasted like any other girl she pleasured. 

“Oh, you will have well earned your rewards,” Amélie murmured, moaning softly. A firm hand held the back of Angela’s hair and urged her to continue, but she realized she was getting extremely weary alarmingly fast. Sharp claws ran down the nape of her neck and Angela shuddered. 

\--

Amélie sighed and maneuvered the human’s mouth as she pleased, keeping a domineering grasp in her pale hair. She had no doubts why Gabriel wanted to keep this one. 

“Excellent,” she praised softly, flexing her hold on the girl to make her lap at her sex more enthusiastically. She shivered with pleasure and moaned, smelling the healing wound on Angela in the air with the sweet saltiness of her cum. She thought she might steal this one anyways while Gabriel was away and eat her out of his sight, consequences be damned---she smelled delicious, and the scabbing shoulder wound under the makeshift bandage made her all the more tempting. How satisfying it would be to bring this girl somewhere even more private and overwhelm her with pleasure until she couldn’t take anymore, then sink her teeth into that soft porcelain flesh and devour her whole. Her thick hips and thighs would make an entire day’s meal. 

But regardless of how tempting it was to break her promise to Gabriel, it was hardly worth the risk. She thought that she could kill him if she were sneaky about it, but she would probably be fatally injured in a battle with him. She had seen how those who challenged him for his territory looked when he was finished with them.

Amélie moaned lowly and lifted herself more to Angela’s lips, deciding that it would be overall better to leave her alive and just take advantage of her presence once in awhile when Gabriel wasn’t around, instead of having one great feast. 

She sighed lowly when she came and held Angela’s head down to keep her mouth in place. The girl whimpered softly at the pushing and when the pleasure subsided, Amélie slid down and purred. 

“You have done well, chérie.” 

She gazed at Angela while she curled up in the pool, pale and visibly exhausted now, soft pink lips swollen. She curled her head into her arms like a pillow and rested on the shore, panting. 

“Gabriel will be back for you soon,” she promised, scooping up a handful of warm sea water to slick Angela’s bangs away from her face. “Sleep. I am sure he has plans for you when he returns.” 

Amélie turned and dove down into the water to have a rest of her own, satisfied and ready to guard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get ready loves mamas bringing the angst

Gabriel was starting to get terribly anxious. 

Angela had been asleep since he arrived, extremely pale and covered in marks from Amélie’s sucking kisses. He controlled his jealous rage when the other siren left and then immediately went to get his scent all over Angela once more to reclaim her, but she didn’t rouse to calls. The woman was extremely still and breathing shallowly, seemingly in a deep sleep. 

“Angela,” he said, and pet her hair away from her face. “Angela...wake up.” He leaned to touch her, feeling for her heartbeat under her breast, and found the flesh there was still warm. Her heart maintained its strong beating, easy some of his concern but not all. It was clear to his senses that she had been completely drained of any remaining energy by Amélie. 

He knew she would wake up sooner or later, but it was alarming to see her so still. Even when she rested normally, she twitched and squirmed in her sleep, nose crinkling cutely. 

“Angela,” he murmured, almost pleading as he shook her shoulder. “Get up, mi cariña, wake up.”

When he saw a crack of blue as her eyes opened, he could finally relax, dragging her into his arms to cradle her. 

She stirred with a soft groan. “Gabriel?” 

“Yes,” he replied softly, running his wet claws down the back of her hair. She smelled more like Amélie now, especially when he disturbed the scent from her hair, but he resisted a growl. Even if his growling wasn’t directed at her, he had began to notice it frightened his creature. “I have returned to you.”

He felt her nod and curl up more against him, and Gabriel cradled her, kissing her without sucking up any energy. Even with the scent of someone else on her, she tasted the same--the same sweetness and softness he had grown addicted to. 

“I’m...glad you came back,” she whispered, and it swelled him with pride and satisfaction. He knew she would finally come around, even as she had resisted before.

“I am sorry I left you alone with her,” he murmured, unable to keep the snarl from his voice. “Look at what she has done to you, mi cielto.” 

“I-I’m okay,” Angela murmured, shaking her head. “I am just feeling a little under the weather.” 

Gabriel didn’t know what that expression meant, but he was certain it was how humans expressed discomfort. “Would you like me to kill her?” 

“What?” she whispered, pulling away a little to look at him. 

“I will kill her for hurting you. Just say the word and it will be done,” he said lowly, holding her jaw. 

“No, no no,” she said quickly, and Gabriel tightened his grasp on her jaw to ensure she would look at him. “I don’t want anyone being killed on my behalf, really, I am okay.” 

Gabriel narrowed his eyes in confusion, running the hand that held her face down her neck and unwounded shoulder. “You are too merciful. Amélie is lucky for that.” 

Angela swallowed and laughed weakly. “You know, on the surface, some people call me Mercy.” 

He paused. “Is Angela not your name?” 

“It is,” she replied, her voice still a weak murmur. “But I’m a medic and I help people, and it’s like a nickname, sort of.”

“A medic?” he asked, raising a brow. 

“A---a doctor. Someone who heals people when they get hurt fighting,” she explained quietly. “My friends help to protect other humans from things that would hurt them. But sometimes they get hurt and I fix them.” 

A deep discomfort settled into Gabriel. He had never thought about what his Angela’s life was before he found her---he had assumed that no matter what it was, she would be thrilled to belong to him and be surrounded with wealth for all her days. But the wistfulness in her eyes made his chest ache. She missed her friends. 

“You heal people. That is fascinating,” he said, when he realized she had stopped speaking. He stroked her hair away from her face again. “Humans take care of one another often, don’t they?” 

“Most of the time,” Angela replied, settling against him. “Some humans are very angry, but...I believe most of us are good. I know many good people, and...well.” This time he saw her face contort suddenly, as if she would burst into tears. He watched as she filled her palms with water to wash her face, squeezing her eyes shut. 

His breath came raw and he frowned. “Don’t cry,” he said, but realized it wasn’t something he could force her not to do. “Please. There is nothing to cry about, my treasure, you’re safe now.”

But the sob came out anyways and Gabriel’s stomach clenched like a fist. He hadn’t meant to cause this, and desperately wished they hadn’t started this conversation in the first place. She cried into her hands, turning away from him. 

“Angela, stop it,” he said, grabbing her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, inhaling deeply to try and compose herself. He watched her shoulders weaken when she fell apart again, despite her struggle to relax. 

“Why are you crying?” he demanded, even though he already knew. “I am keeping you safe, I am here.” 

“/God/, I want to go home,” she sobbed, crumbling faster now. He wanted to try to stop her, try to keep her together, but she was falling apart faster than he could even try to pick up the pieces. “Gabriel, please, c-can’t you understand I’m not meant to be down here?” 

“Don’t say that, you are meant to be mine,” he said, holding her jaws to bring her closer. She didn’t jerk away, but her tears fell faster, hot and warm as they dribbled down her cheeks and onto his wrists. 

“I c-can’t stay here anymore, I can’t take it,” she pleaded. Every word felt like a cut deep in his chest and his lip curled in a growl. 

“After all I have done, and you still don’t like it?” he snarled. His cheekbones prickled, jaw set against the offensive words. “What can I do? I have done everything for you, and still-” 

“It’s not you,” she breathed, struggling to wipe her swollen face. “Please. I’m a human being, I’m not meant to be under the ocean, I cannot survive down here. Somewhere inside you, you must know that, Gabriel. Please.” 

“You are mine, I cannot have you leave,” he said, forcing himself not to growl. 

“If you let me go, I will visit you,” she promised. “I-I can, come to the beach and we can see each other and-”

“No,” he said. Her crying was painful to hear, but the thought of releasing her was much worse. If it meant he could keep her, he could listen to her wail. 

“I’m going to die if you keep me down here!” she said, breathlessly. She pushed him away and he grabbed her forearms immediately, leaning over her. 

“Stop this,” he murmured. “Enough.” 

“But--” 

Gabriel kissed her, tasting the saltiness of her tears that smeared on her mouth. He drew his tongue across them to lick it away. “I won’t let you die, I promise. You’re safe with me here.” 

\---- 

But that was the problem, Angela thought. If she were to continue living on minimal food and water without exercise or sunlight, her life expectancy would drastically decrease. Still, she couldn’t bear the thought of spending the next ten years staring at the walls and waiting for him to toy with her again. She would rather die. 

“Please,” she whispered, resting her head weakly on his chest when he let her go. He was so cold. “Don’t you know if you love someone, you should let them be free?” 

Gabriel was silent and still. 

“If you want someone to be yours you have to let them go. And then if they come back, you will know they were yours,” she whispered. “I would visit you. I would bring you...fish and jewelry from the surface. And I-I could be happy too.” 

It took a long time for Gabriel to speak again. He said, “You wouldn’t come back.” 

She sniffled, wiping watery mucus away from her nose. She had inhaled so much salt water that it was all she could ever taste, like her sinuses were stained with it.

“If you don’t let me go, you won’t ever know if I really cared for you,” Angela said softly. She was scared now---she knew that would make him angry, but being torn apart by his claws was much more appealing than spending the rest of her life a captive. 

“You do,” he replied assuredly, and wasn’t wrong.

“...I...I do, but.” This wasn’t working. “Don’t you care about me too?” 

“/Obviously/.” He bristled, tail swishing with agitation. He set her down on the ledge and she reached to touch him, but he drew away. “You should rest and consider your words.” 

“Gabriel wait,” she said, furrowing her brow. Before she could say anything else, he sank down under the water and disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh hey everyone!! uni has been crazy with the end coming up soon so i endlessly appreciate all your patience in waiting for this chapter. 
> 
> on a note much more exciting than research papers, the wonderful @twfa on tumblr drew some art of siren gabriel!! i can confirm its accuracy bc they worked with me lots & it was so honouring. please check out their beautiful work and give them a follow and a reblog!!  
> (NSFW warning on the art!)
> 
>  
> 
> https://twfansfw.tumblr.com/post/158244418767/twfa-ahh-i-am-so-behind-on-other-art-i-need-to

It was quiet in Jack’s quarters. He sat on the small couch, still in the stiff black suit he wore to Angela’s memoriam. The ceremony ended hours ago. 

“It’s been sixteen days since Overwatch head of medical science Angela Ziegler has gone missing at sea,” the head on the TV says, an austere woman in a plum pantsuit. A picture of Angela came on the screen and Jack’s stomach turned. It was a simple portrait, but she had so much life in her eyes. God, why did she have to jump off that ship? What the hell had she been thinking? 

“Overwatch authorities declined to comment, but other sources say that the search will be ended tomorrow. More at eleven.” 

\----

Angela laid halfway on a treasure pile, facing away from the water. It was softer than the rough volcanic rock of the cave floor, and easier to sleep on.

At home, the doctor had been a deep sleeper, savouring every bit of rest she could squeeze into her hectic schedule. She so often denied herself sleep in favour of working that she felt her body had trained itself to plummet into the deepest sleep it could find whenever the opportunity arouse. But her time with Gabriel had changed that, and now Angela slept often, but shallowly. Her nerves frayed, jolting her awake at the softest sounds. It could be anything---a tumbling coin, a heavy water droplet, an especially loud splash of tide on rock. This time, it was something tapping up once against her back. 

She came to the surface of consciousness and looked over her shoulder weakly, noticing first that the thing that touched her was a large orange. Next, she saw the purple glow of Gabriel’s eyes above the black water, staring at her. 

“I have also brought you water,” he said lowly, and nodded his chin in the direction of a plastic bottle waiting for her. 

“Thank you,” she said, voice hoarse from sleep. She slowly sat up and picked up the orange, holding it close and squeezing it, nails digging in. “Are---are you still angry?”

Gabriel had left her alone for what felt like a day. The cave was always so painfully quiet, with only the sounds of water dripping down the walls and off the ceiling. It was maddening. 

For a moment, he seemed like he would draw away without saying anything, and Angela reached out her hand quickly to try to grab him. 

“Wait,” she said softly, sick at how she wanted to beg him for closeness. “Don’t go.” 

“...I understood you didn’t wish to speak to me, Angela.” He pulled himself up and out from the water to sit comfortably, tail languidly laid resting on the rock and hair sticking to his soaked body. A strange look crossed his features; a flick of relief and then a settled smugness at her desire for his presence.

/You’re the one that swam off/, she thought, but decided it was better to keep that to herself. She looked down and punctured the orange skin with her thumbnail, peeling it away and starting to eat. Her appetite had suffered immensely from all the anxiety and stress, but when she started to eat her body remembered how hungry it was.

“I’m...I’m still upset that you won’t let me go,” she said, still looking at the orange and speaking slowly between bites. If he were to understand, it seemed she would have to state it simply. “I’m afraid, and I miss my home on the land. You don’t want to believe that I can’t survive down here, but I think you know that if humans could, they would. Humans like to put property down anywhere it's feasib-”

“Angela.” When he spoke, she shut her mouth immediately, nervous. But instead of getting upset, Gabriel pulled her into the water and kissed her forehead. “Don’t make yourself upset.” 

Ugh. 

“I adore you, mi cariña. You are so beautiful.” His kisses trailed next along her jaw and under her ear, and Angela gave up for the time being. She ignored him partially in favour of eating and let him do as he pleased to try to win her affection with kisses, which seemed a challenge to him. “Angela.” 

“I’m trying to eat, knock it off,” she said, trying to growl and accidentally breaking . into a giggle when he flicked his tongue under her ear. “Hey!” 

That low growling chuckle breathed his cold breath right into her ear, apparently amused. He nipped the ticklish spot again and she squeaked, pushing on his chest and trying to stop laughing. “Quit it!” 

“But it’s good to hear you laugh,” he chuckled, running his claw up her side carefully and poking enough just to make her start snickering. She pushed his hand away and squealed, laying back. 

“Stop, I’m ticklish!” she laughed, throwing her head back in her squirming. He quickly placed his hand on the back of her head to keep her from whacking it against any rocks, leaning over and chortling. He kissed her nose and lips softly. “I was trying to eat!” 

“You finished,” he smirked, brushing the orange peel aside. His hand ran up her tummy and side affectionately. “And you were ignoring me.”

“I was not you big baby,” Angela laughed weakly, feeling the cold start to set in from being wet and out of the water. “How would you like it if I bothered you when you were trying to eat, hm?” 

“You say that as if you could keep up with me,” he smirked, running another claw up her throat to hold her chin. “If humans could swim faster than me, well-” He clearly decided not to go down that road of conversation. “You could try.” 

But Angela wanted to. “Do you only eat people?” 

“No,” he replied, after a moment of hesitation. “Most human meat is good, but something about their...energies is bitter. To find one like you, mostly uncorrupt in moral, is rare and delicious. I usually eat fish.” 

Angela had walked along the harbour before and was well aware of the catcalling, but she wondered if that was enough to make most seamen taste ‘foul in energy’. She had always tried to see the best in everyone, having never seen herself as somehow morally more pure than anyone else she met unless they were /really/ vile. 

“So why did you keep me alive?” she asked finally, sitting up again. “Why not eat me if I’m...delicious?” 

Calling herself delicious was uncomfortable. She didn’t /want/ to taste good, sort of wishing that humans were more gristly or gamey or something that would deter sirens. 

Gabriel was quiet for a long while, as if he didn’t know how to answer her. Finally, he said, “You were a fine addition to my treasures.” 

An expected answer. Angela nodded and moistened her lips anxiously. They were raw and chapped from dehydration and salty sea air and rough kissing, and she thought longingly of the chapstick in the purse she left on the ship.

“Do you still feel like I’m just a piece of your collection then?” she said, hardening her voice. 

“No,” Gabriel said, voice low and hesitant. He sank into the water more, as if uncomfortable and seeking escape, and Angela shifted herself to sink into the hot water. 

“Can you treat me more like an autonomous being then, instead of your plaything?” she said. Her voice sounded gentle, but the firmness of command made it clear it wasn’t a question, but an order.

“...Yes, my treasure.” There was confusion in his face as he grappled with submitting to the demands of his human captive, but it was clear that ‘treasure’ had an entirely new meaning. 

Angela smiled and held his jaw, offering him a soft kiss on the scars running along his cheek and nose. She leaned closer and touched his cold chest, feeling for a heartbeat. His upper half was remarkably mammalian considering he was more aquatic than air-breathing. 

“Thank you.” She held his jaws with both hands and pressed her lips to his.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! my deadlines are a little wound down now. thanks for all your love and patience!

Angela’s kiss---her true, desired kiss---changed something in Gabriel. Something inside him seemed to melt, and at the same time, he could feel a deeper connection form to her. It was a magic he had never experienced, much less explored, and it caught him so off guard that he pulled away from her for a moment. 

He saw Angela hesitate and frown. “...Did I do something wrong?” she asked softly, not taking her hands off his jaws. 

“No,” he replied, and tipped his head. Her hands were so soft and warm against his cheeks, the touch as luxurious as silk to the siren. He touched her wrist carefully. “Do that again.”

Angela did. Her lips touched slowly to Gabriel’s and he growled his approval, holding her waist and unable to help digging his claws lightly into the plushness there. It aroused a whimper and he nipped her lip. 

“Am I hurting you?” he asked lowly, not to taunt this time. 

“No,” she murmured back, shifting. “Your claws just startled me. But, I like them.” 

“Do you?” Gabriel smirked, and this time he couldn’t help teasing a little. He pressed his nails deeper into her skin and then ran them down her side, prompting ticklish shivering and squirming. He could smell the salty sweetness of her arousal and it only spurred his desire to move quickly. 

“O-Oh...When you use them carefully,” Angela murmured, voice pointed on /carefully/. 

“I am being careful,” he smirked, massaging down her back slowly. He sunk into the hot water and pulled her to straddle his lap, shifting her legs to curl around his hips. He ran his claws down her back and she arched, breathing out softly. The heat of her sex was pressed to the top of his tail.

“Are you going to…?” she breathed, and he could sense the eagerness in her voice. 

He growled out a low purr. “Do you want me to, cariña?” 

“Yes,” Angela breathed, and the muscles in her back twitched when he nipped the top of her breast. A soft noise of indignation came from her throat. “Please, come on.” 

Another low growl of approval. Gabriel purred, a husky rumbling sound as he rewarded her with deep kisses along her neck and throat. It felt good to hear her ask, and he knew it was something he could quickly become addicted to. He could only imagine her pleading for it. 

With the heat of her sex pressed onto it, his closed cloaca didn’t take long to open in arousal. The thick appendage inside emerged, seeking her heat in the water and slowly curling in at the tip. It moved in, quickly and carefully, and he watched her start to squirm.

“I-is your genitalia prehensile?” she breathed. When he didn’t answer, she clarified, “C-can you control it?”

“I’m about to fuck you and you’re asking that now?” he breathed in her ear, not halting in working to penetrate her as deeply as possible. He held her to his lap tightly and moaned, relishing the pleasure of her squirming intensifying the further it moved in her.

“I’m curious,” she gasped, shivering and closing her eyes. Gabriel moaned when she tightened around him. 

“Yes. I can,” he answered finally, thrusting up his hips and prompting a pleasured cry. 

“Then, then...I want you to push it against, inside me, the frontal wall,” she breathed, struggling to be coherent.

“Why?” he grunted, but curled the appendage as she wished. Though he didn’t know it, it was the back of her clitoris, and the stimulation prompted delighted sighing moans. The delicious noises felt like an immediate reward to him, compensation for all the distracting chatter.

“The bundle of nerves that, that brings pleasure to me, it is partially there,” she breathed hotly into his wet neck, moaning louder now. “I can e-explain more later!” 

Gabriel crooned lowly, not about to complain. He moaned back to her and ran his claws down her back, tail swishing a little under the water with twitches of ecstasy. 

“Oh, Gabriel!” 

“Mi cielto,” he replied, kissing her again. He pushed his tongue between her lips and she parted them, groaning louder and shuddering. She was drinking him in, sucking on his tongue and groaning. Her nails, having grown and sharpened from their original tidy bluntness, ran down his back and made him arch against them.

“Yes, good,” he moaned against her lips, kissing hard again before she could make out a response. He tightened his grasp on her rocking hips to force them still and Angela whined at him. 

“No wait, that felt go-” She cried out again when he pinned her hips down to him and started to thrust into her. It was initially hard enough that he could feel her try to jerk away, but remained trapped under his hands. When she couldn’t escape she buried her face in his neck. “/Oh god/.” 

“Don’t complain,” he told her, chuckling.   
Those prey-like cries filled him and he drank it up, grinning and chortling lowly. “Trust me to please you.” 

“Mein gott,” she choked, digging her nails in. Her hips squirmed and he twisted against her, using all his strength to drag them up onto the land without pulling out of her. 

\---

Angela opened her eyes when Gabriel moved them, and it in itself was an instant visual feast. He had laid against the rocks, oil-black hair sprawled around him and sticking to his thick muscles. In that moment he was among the most beautiful possible things in the world, all muscle and dark skin and smokey lavender eyes. His pleasure was clear in his face and she moaned lowly, adjusting forward to plant her hands beside either side of his head and lean forward. The cold tip of the appendage almost tickled inside her, the sensation sending chills up her back.

“Angela,” he moaned, voice like liquid gold in her ears. She wondered if it was his siren song again. “Mmh.” 

“Oh, I’m close, I am, ah, I’m ready,” she warned, almost a plea. Water dripped down her breasts and hair and onto him until she buried her face in his neck, clinging desperately. 

“Yes,” he breathed back, raking his claws slowly along her back. “Say my name.” 

“Gabriel,” she breathed, choked up in a moan when she finished. Her thighs tensed and every limb gripped to him, fingers laced tightly in all his smooth hair. She could feel him finish too, breathing a gravelly moan right into her ear that almost made her think she could come again from the sound alone. 

Their rutting came to a slowed pace and then stopped, Gabriel’s appendage slipping out of her again. Without moving, Angela continued to cling to him, thighs trembling as she waited to finish coming down. “Oh my.” 

He smirked, slowly pushing himself up to lay back on the pile of gold, his long tail still draped in the water. Her head rested against his chest and she panted. 

“You are exquisite,” he praised lowly, rubbing her back. 

“You’re pretty good yourself,” Angela chuckled, still shivering. “Ah, my goodness.” 

Gabriel closed his eyes and relaxed a moment beneath her, quiet now. She followed his lead, curling closer when his arm wrapped around her waist. “I have to hunt this evening. I will not take long.” 

“Okay,” she murmured. “Hurry back. I don’t like to be alone down here.” 

Alas, the time for cuddling was apparently over as Gabriel slipped away and back into the water. Angela had grown used to this and grabbed her dress to use as a pillow (though would much prefer the siren’s pectorals---or, better yet, a real normal pillow). 

Still, the afterglow of her orgasm was enough to soothe her into a semi-restful on the treasure pile. She found that at the very least it was a pleasant angle to sleep on. 

 

Two hours later, Angela woke, hungry and thirsty and eager for company. She checked the supplies she had collected from Gabriel’s trips and found nothing but a few drinks of fresh water left. She took the opportunity to check her shoulder wound, noticing it was healing well---she was grateful for the nanobiotic stream in her cybernetic spine. If it weren’t there, at best it would leave a massive scar, and at worse, she would have died of an infection. She wondered what kind of bacteria was housed by a siren’s mouth, and if they carried diseases. 

She turned over when she heard the subtlest shift in the water, having become hyper aware of it in her loneliness. It usually meant Gabriel had returned, or that she was focusing too hard on the tide and getting her hopes up from meaningless regular lapping sounds. She rolled over, looking up with a tiny smile to greet him, but-- 

Angela’s blood ran ice cold. There was a face in the water, but it wasn’t Gabriel or even Amélie. It had thick black hair streaked with grey, a considerably older creature than Gabriel, skin grey and eyes sunken in. His nose was broad like a hammerhead shark’s, teeth grotesquely long and sharp and beared. 

She scrambled up and away from the edge of the shore, wondering if it even mattered---he had already seen her. She grabbed a candelabra from the treasure pile and held it close to her chest. 

The cave was silent. The constant dripping she had grown accustomed to was replaced only with the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she listened for the other creature, but it was silent. It was so quiet. 

She would give anything for her caduceus blaster. Angela had never liked violence or using her gun, but so paralyzed with fear she was certain even with the candelabra she would be helpless against another siren. It wasn’t singing to her either. All observed siren behaviours suggested he would sing to her to draw her to water, but-

Having crawled silently on to the land, the siren grabbed Angela’s ankle. His grip was firm and rough-skinned, yanking her to his level and sliding fast back towards the water. 

Too scared to shriek, Angela grabbed anything and everything for leverage, scattering loose treasure everyone but failing to secure herself. She threw the candelabra at the creature’s face as hard as she could and it snarled, crawling over her again to sink its teeth into her belly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for some pretty serious bloody stuff in this chapter! the next chapter will be the finale. ^u^ thanks again for all your support!!

Gabriel swam languidly back towards his cove home, sated from meal of fish and crab. It took longer to get the sustenance he needed thanks to the depleted aquatic population around the cove, but since he couldn’t trust Amélie to watch his lover, he had no choice but to stay nearby. Despite the rage and jealousy, Amélie hadn’t exactly meant to harm Angela, and he supposed he couldn’t blame her for being unable to help herself. His lover gave off delicious smells and she was so beautiful and tender that any siren would be hardpressed to ignore her. That didn’t mean he was going to let Amélie have any more of her than she already took though.

Something stirred in the siren as he approached, realizing that someone else’s pheromones were smeared all over his territory. It was wafting through the coral and seaweed, sticking to the rock as if absorbed by its porousness, His razor teeth bared and his speed doubled as he whipped deeper into the depths to find and kill the intruder, at first expecting them to be skulking in the weeds. He tore down and all the tiny tropical fish fled in every direction in flashes of brilliant yellows and blues, but there was no one to be seen.

The deeper he got, the stronger the scent, but there was still no sign of the trespasser. Gabriel looked behind himself and retreated into the caves, suddenly realizing that /that/ was where the stench was coming from. The siren tore through the cave system and tunnels as fast as he could swim, then jerked his head above the water into the air of his treasure cove. 

Shrieking. The sound pierced his eardrums the second he was above the surface and Gabriel startled at the awful sound. His stomach turned, instinct flaring when he saw blood pooling on the black rock. 

Another siren was over Angela, his sharp teeth red with her blood. Her face was splattered with her own blood and pale as bleached coral, hands yanking and scratching. The blood she had lost seemed tremendous and for the briefest second he wondered how she could still be kicking and fighting, having managed to even draw a little bit of blood from the other siren.

Gabriel roared and snarled, using all his strength to rip the elder male away from her. He could have killed Angela already, but he was the type to play with his food, having left her torn and scratched and gouged everywhere. His hand planted on the rock had landed in some of Angela’s blood, dripping from the missing chunks in her skin.

Gabriel’s first priority had to be to get him away from Angela, and then he could deal with killing him, He threw his weight behind them and dragged them into the water, at first leaving himself at a disadvantage with the other creature poised over him. When they hit the water, he used all his strength to try to shove him down towards the sandy seabed.

Claws flared and he slashed at the creature, ripping his chest open. It didn’t seem to bother him---Gabriel was meant with an animalistic snarl and narrowly managed to escape his throat being caught. He butted his elbow as hard as he could into the elder male’s rib cage, attacking recklessly and aggressively to drag him as far from the surface as he could. He thought he’d like to bleed him to death for touching his Angela, but that would take too long--the longer he fought, the closer Angela might slip to dying.

One moment, thick hands grabbed the sides of Gabriel’s head, and the next, sparks exploded behind his eyelids. The siren smashed the back of his head into a rough chunk of volcanic rock, again and again until he was disoriented enough to expose his throat. He twisted away and barely managed to avoid those razor teeth sinking into his neck.

Gabriel curled his fist around the elder’s throat and twisted them over, disoriented still and vision swimming as he struggled to gain control of the fight again. He had never lost a fight before, but this was also not an ordinary fight. Usually the other sirens that challenged his territory were only a few years older than he was, drunk with confidence. But this one was experienced, and knew he had a reason to be cocky.

“Give up,” he snarled, ripping a chunk out of Gabriel’s shoulder with his talons. He snarled back and twisted over, beating him down with fists and claws in a vicious close combat melee. Blood was starting to drift through the blue water around them from their wounds. 

“She’s /mine/,!” Gabriel growled, slicing the flesh at his gut to gory ribbons. The flesh was tough and scaled, but in his rage, he made short work of his natural defenses anyways. The elder siren struck him again in the jaw and then the cheekbone, shoving him into the rocks. He grabbed the sharpest stone in his near vicinity and immediately smashed it into the siren’s hair, welling up red against the grey-brown. He pulled his arm back and took advantage of his surprise, smacking it down into his nose and shattering it. But once he started, he couldn’t stop, anger welling and making his veins burn with adrenaline. He smashed the rock into the struggling elder until his face was gory pulp, then reached and grabbed his neck until his claws punctured the flesh there. His fingertips sank into the other creature’s gills and when he had a strong grasp, Gabriel pulled until his throat came free. 

 

\----- 

Angela had been wondering how long she could escape the inevitable since the moment she was conscious and free-minded in the cave, she had just hoped that it wouldn’t end quite like this. From textbook practice to aiding dying soldiers on the battlefield, she was certain bleeding to death would be among the worst ways to die. She hiccuped a weak sob, face slick with tears as she watched the water where Gabriel disappeared. She wondered if he would come back, or if he would lose the fight, and the other siren would come back to finish her off. 

Three years ago, the doctor had invented a cybernetic spine for herself to disperse nanobiotics to heal detected injuries and control the wings of her valkyrie suit. The catch to that was that the nanobiotics often had to be refilled---a fairly easy procedure, but an expensive one. She didn’t refill them unless she was going into battle to avoid wasting Overwatch’s money healing her papercuts; the little she had left in her had been depleted completely trying to force the infection out of her deep shoulder wound.

But oh god, it hurt. She had been shot in battle plenty of times, and that was a pain she was at least used to. It was manageable, because when she was shot, Ana pried the bullet out, shot her with the biotic rifle and sent her on her way. It hurt a lot, but it wasn’t hopeless. Now it was hopeless. She could almost hear Jack’s voice in her head---/one day, Ange, you’re gonna run outta luck. You gotta be more careful./ 

Out of luck indeed. She closed her eyes, looking at the blood with a physician’s eye. It wasn’t enough blood that she was in any immediate danger of death, but it would be soon. If it were a soldier in her care bleeding this way, she would order them off the field in a stretcher for an immediate blood infusion.

What a nightmare. If the thing came back, it would just keep going, and she wasn’t sure she could handle anymore. It was too much of an animal to listen to her plead for at very least a quick death, and Gabriel wouldn’t let her go. He didn’t have any medical supplies, and he was so stubborn, she knew he would sit by her side trying to fix her with scrounged up medicine while she either bled to death or succumbed to infection. 

She reached, grabbing the red dress she had worn to the reception, and draped it over herself. The material wasn’t comfortable, saturated and cool from the humidity, but its weight was a minor comfort as it soaked up some of the blood. She was too weak to push it against herself and try to stop the bleeding. Her eyes closed again, head heavy, and thought of her grandma. Her grandmother had asked to listen to Chopin on her deathbed, after a brutal battle with metastasized cancers in almost every part of her body. Angela thought she might also like to have some music on, so she could at least get her mind off the pain a little bit. 

“My Angela.”

She turned her head, startled, and saw Gabriel crawling out of the water. His teeth and gums were dark red and dripping, face swollen and bruised, body covered in deep gashes. “Gabe?” she murmured. 

“You are going to be fine,” he promised immediately, crawling over her. He dragged his tail onto the shore and leaned overtop of her, hands planted at either side of her head, his hair tickling her shoulders. The thick globs of blood in his mouth started to drip onto her face and she whimpered and grimaced, trembling. “Angela. Speak to me, Angela.” 

“Gabriel,” she managed a second time, no longer strong enough to fight the siren blood dripping on her, even if it was gross. She was already so bloody, what did a few more droplets matter? 

He looked around and she realized he had handfuls of seaweed, and started binding up the wounds on one of her biceps with it. She grunted and closed her eyes at the icy sliminess, but it didn’t last for long---the open wounds soaked through. Gabriel snarled in frustration and she could feel him shaking too as he wrapped the wounds and it did nothing to help. 

“You are a healer,” he said. “Tell me what to do!” 

Angela shook her head. “Y-you can’t,” she breathed, voice thin and airless. “There’s nothing you can do.”   
Gabriel snarled in her face, and she saw the slightest glitter of tears in his eyes. “There’s something! Tell me!” 

His snarling couldn’t scare her anymore. She let her eyes close, grateful that she wouldn’t be all alone when she passed at the very least. “I am sorry.” 

“Angela!” he said, pleading now and gripping her shoulders. His claws were digging into her skin in his desperation and her head lolled to the side. “Humans, they help each other---right? Humans will help you?” 

Shocked, she couldn’t find an answer after a moment. She nodded her head a little bit, barely strong enough to do even that, and sank into the rock. “Ja,” she managed, when he didn’t respond to her nodding at first. 

Gabriel’s lips smashed against hers in a hard kiss and he breathed his magic deep into her lungs, curling his arms around her and dragging her off the rocks. They plummeted into the water and she felt it was incredibly warm compared to her body temperature, eyes squeezed shut. He maneuvered them out of the caves through his fastest route to the surface and Angela stared with bleary eyes, seeing more of the bioluminescent marine plant life and tiny fish. It was incredibly dark in these parts of the caves, but Gabriel seemed to know exactly where he was going.

When they left the cave, he brought them over a coral reef and out into the open water. It was bright---Angela realized it was day time. Or at least, it seemed to be. The closer to the surface they became, the more golden sunlight she could see filtering through the water, illuminating the sediment particles drifting along in the ocean currents. The water was a peaceful turquoise and she closed her eyes, completely unaware of the blood she was leaking into the water anymore. Despite her strength, she fell unconscious before they reached the surface. 

\----

Gabriel didn’t want to do this. He knew she would never come back to him, not after everything she had endured. He hadn’t realized that she was suffering, but the more he thought about her crying and asking to be freed, the more he knew that she had been unhappy with him. Perhaps it would be easier to cope with that heartbreak if he could keep her, but he couldn’t. If he kept her, she would die. 

The realization was uncomfortable, but he loved her like he had never loved any/thing/ in his life. She surely didn’t love him back, but he would trade every golden treasure in his collection to keep her presence in his life. That deal was off the table---Angela’s affection was no longer the prize. Now it was her life that he had to fight for, and time worked against him. 

She felt him go unconscious in his arms but could still hear her heart beating, however weak. It just made him swim faster, pushing his endurance and stamina to the edge. It felt like the ocean currents were working against him this time, even though he usually cut through them like a blade.

Soon, he pushed his head above the surface and saw the shoreline. It was a pale sandy beach with other humans on it, wearing bathing suits and eating around a fire. Angela said humans could help her---and so he brought her through the sea, back beneath it under the waves to conceal himself from them, and allowed himself one last selfish kiss. Time was precious for her life, but he couldn’t help himself. He kissed her softly, cheekbones prickling, and he pushed her into the tide. She sank at first, then a wave pushed her onto the beach, halfway out of the water. Gabriel watched diligently to assure she wouldn’t drown or be ignored. 

“Holy shit!” a girl on the beach shouted, getting up. “Barry, call 9-1-1!” 

They had seen her, and Gabriel took his last look. She had landed in a crumpled position, the tide washing over her naked body. Then, the siren dove back into the surf. He couldn’t follow her any further.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! thanks for your patience, finals have been crazy for me! if you liked this story and want to talk about it more or get updates on future fanfics, please follow me at dalishpariah.tumblr.com <3 i hope you enjoy it!

Angela’s hospital room was dim and quiet, with the mounted TV playing the news just above mute. The only light in the room was the blueish glow of the television casting shadows on the doctor’s blanketed legs, and the light from Jack’s phone. Outside the room there was a small common area filled to the brim with Overwatch agents---Fareeha taking up an entire couch with a magazine on her sleeping face, Ana and Reinhardt snoozing on each other’s shoulders with gifts of tiny chocolates and a ‘Get Well’ teddy bear. There were others, all piled up on each other and napping and just waiting for their friend to rouse. 

When Angela woke, her fingers twitched first. There was an IV in the top of her hand secured with medical tape, and the tape was a little bit itchy, but there wasn’t any pain. The closer she came to consciousness, the more details that became apparent; she was in a thin hospital gown under thin cotton and fleece blankets, her hair pinned back from her face. She could feel the stiffness of thick scabs under bandages all over her, but there wasn’t any pain. 

“Ange?” 

Her eyes twitched open at the familiar voice. She expected to see damp cave and bioluminescent fauna and dark sea, but it was a warm, dry place, with clean cream-coloured walls. And Jack was there. /Jack was there./ 

Suddenly his arms were around her, and she pressed her face into his shoulder, inhaling the leather scent of his jacket and the cologne that reminded her of an old dad. He was crushing her in his arms and she was too weak to do much more than try to wrap her arms around his waist. “Jack,” she croaked. 

“Goddammit Ziegler we thought you were dead,” he breathed, pulling his strength back a little bit. His embrace remained tight and comforting. “Don’t---ever do something like that to me again, you get it?!” 

He didn’t mean to be an asshole, and she knew that about him. Any implied threat was empty and stemmed from being upset. Instead of answering, she murmured, “Where am I?” 

“Oahu,” he replied into her hair, more gently. “A general hospital. You’re safe.” 

“Oh my god.” Angela held him now, or at least tried to, sinking into him and grateful to feel a warm human touch. Part of her thought she was going to blink and suddenly be in the cave again, but it was warm and soft and dry. She was feeling full and hydrated and was certain there was a nutrition tube in her somewhere, though she was too tired to figure out if it was the one in her arm or if it was under her shirt. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Jack breathed, finally pulling away. He wasn’t wearing his gloves, and it was strange to feel his touch without them. His hands were warm and calloused, holding her jaws. 

She blinked slowly. “Ah---you, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she whispered back, shaking her head. 

“When you’re not doped to shit, I want a briefing,” he said firmly, gesturing to the tube in her arm. 

“Yes, alright,” she murmured, laying back against the pillows and closing her eyes. She was quiet for a long time, just resting and dozing in and out of consciousness, feeling Jack touch her hand, comforted by his human presence. Finally, she said, “Jack?” 

“Yeah doc?” he replied, right away. 

“Would you bring me a cheeseburger?” 

\- 

It was months before Angela Ziegler saw the Hawaiian sea again, except from the window of a military airplane flying her and the other agents back to Gibraltar. She recovered quickly from her injuries with the help of floods of nanobiotics into her system, with her only truly visible scar the thin ring of jagged tooth marks around her shoulder, only noticeable if one were to look for it. Eventually, media requests for comments tapered into nonexistence (the doctor always declined), and business resumed as usual. 

It was only Jack and Fareeha that knew what really happened to her. She often wondered if they didn’t actually believe her, and sometimes she wondered if she even believed herself. Between nearly drowning and being so malnourished and dehydrated, she began to question if she could trust her own perception of those events. And yet, about two months after returning home to the watchpoint, she felt her heart ache for Gabriel. 

He wasn’t a monster. He was misguided, she thought---if he existed, and wasn’t a figment of her imagination. The scar was her only proof that she had ever seen him at all. 

But the doctor had weeks and weeks of saved up vacation time, and so despite initially refusing to take time off once her recovery had finished, she packed her bags and flew alone to Oahu once more. This time, she told Jack and Fareeha loosely where to look for her if she stopped communing with them without explanation. Underwater radar technology could probably find the cave with Angela’s specifications, but she preferred to keep Gabriel’s home a secret for his safety, if it was possible. 

A day after arriving on the island, Angela ate well and walked from her rented condo down along the beach where she had been found. It was soft white sand, cool and silky as the sun descended, the picturesque dusk framed by docks further down the beach and sails on the horizon. 

She dressed in a thick black wetsuit and tied back her hair, going to sit down in the sloshing waves. She had a small sewing pin she had brought all the way from Gibraltar in one hand and jabbed it into her finger, as deep as she dared, and swished it into the ocean water before her spinal stream of nanobiotics closed the wound. 

\--

Gabriel had never felt so pathetic. /Pining/ over a human and mourning the loss of her presence. It was so peculiar and downright stupid that he almost had trouble pitying himself---almost. 

Never had his cove felt emptier. The gold in it was given value by humans, but he had always just enjoyed it because it was rare and shiny, and now it felt worthless. He couldn’t relish in searching old shipwrecks for gold anymore, not when he knew he would return to an empty bed of seaweed. 

He often questioned his choice. Maybe it would have been better to keep his Angela, to see if she could have recovered from the attack with his help. His dropping her off at the shore had been such a rash, panicked decision, one that he often regretted with every fibre of his being. He laid awake in the dark waters, questioning himself, thinking that if he hadn’t been so foolishly concerned he would still have her company. 

But then he remembered how sad she was. He remembered emerging from the water, somehow still expecting her eagerness, and would find her weeping. No amount of offers of affection or pleasure or compliments ever soothed her, and it made his chest ache. 

He wore a long strip of her red silk on his wrist, torn carefully from the dress she left behind. It brought him some comfort, but in a month, it would rot away in the water and crumble to nothing, so he would rip off a new strip, knowing one day he would run out and have to accept that. 

One hot day, Gabriel finally accepted a social call, venturing to a turquoise lagoon that was always empty of humans. There were large, smooth grey rocksrising from the water, easy to pull up onto and rest, and made it a favoured place for the trio to enjoy the hot sunshine. 

“You still pouting, Gabriel?” Sombra said, looking over. Her tail was sprawled up the rock, wet and glittering purple in the noon sunshine. She rolled over to stretch her arms above her head, as if disinterested. 

He grunted at her, resting his face in the cradle of his arms and trying to sleep, since he had been doing very little of it. 

“Yes,” Amélie answered for him. “I am rather disappointed as well. It is a loss for us all.” 

“Not me,” Sombra snorted. “I don’t play with my food.” 

“Do you ever stop talking?” Gabriel growled, lifting his head to just slightly bare his teeth. Sombra returned the gesture with a smug grin, her own, younger teeth much more razor-like than Gabriel’s.

“Once in a while.” 

He slid off the rock and back into the sea, sun-heated back cooling quickly in the water.

That evening, as the sun above the surface descended, Gabriel was safely nestled in a tangle of seaweed. He enjoyed the cold, dark water deep at the seabed---he found it comforting. The scent was neutral, a pleasant refuge from the constant assault to his senses in the open water of pheromones and blood and human pollution. 

But even as he found comfort in his nest and the quiet and the neutral water, he found an urge tugging deep in his chest. His first instinct was to check for danger, and he rose, slowly swimming along the lower cave paths checking for the scent of another territorial siren. 

But the feeling in his stomach was just wistful sadness again. He often liked to pretend that that aching tingling came from something tangible, like danger or territory encroachment or the opportunity for a nearby meal, but it was rarely anything of the sort. 

Still, he began to swim his long route through the open water, the same one he had taken his bleeding lover through, the same one he had followed in similar wistful fits before. It had become natural now---familiar, almost like a ritual. 

Gabriel bristled, his feeling of mourning stronger now when suddenly he /swore/ he could smell Angela’s blood. He would know the scent anywhere--all human blood had a rich, velvet taste, and hers had grown forbiddenly familiar to him in her time in his cove. He would know it anywhere. 

\-- 

At least three hours had passed since Angela had arrived at the beach. It seemed like at first she had been pricking her finger every half hour, but now it was as soon as the nanobiotics healed it fully. It was so dark, the beach only lit with warm electric lights on bamboo posts being swarmed with flocks of tiny white moths. She watched them for a while, letting the tide wash over her, flat on her back. And then she would look up at the stars, at that black mantle of sky scattered with trillions of lights---she rarely saw such densely clustered stars, thanks to light pollution. But out here, with the dull slosh of waves and the humming of evening bugs, she could stare at them forever. The wetsuit did a fairly decent job of keeping her warm, but she was feeling impatient, anxious. 

The ocean was a big place. Gabriel’s sense of smell was strong, but she thought it was unlikely that he would ever find her. The idea of them being separated /forever/, always searching in the wrong places for the rest of their lives made her so profoundly sad that it seemed worth it to sit in the surf and wait on a miracle. 

Worse, what if he had forgotten her? What if he no longer cared? Perhaps his species moved on from such things quickly. Perhaps she had only ever been a possession to him. 

“Angela…” 

She roused suddenly, wondering if she had dozed off. That was an extremely dangerous thing to do, she thought---falling asleep in the tide. Or maybe she wasn’t falling asleep, she just suddenly felt a familiar change in her consciousness. But this time, it wasn’t a hand reaching in and twisting her thoughts to pleasure and sex and want, it was just a presence, brushing against her brain. 

“Gabriel?” She sat up, hair dripping down her front. The dark tide receded, and returned, washing over her legs, and then receded again, and she stared at it until she saw a wet head emerge. 

The wave climaxed and disappeared, receding, and suddenly there was so much of him there, revealed by the water. He was there, dripping wet and slick with hair, long thick tail still under the water. He pulled himself up closer to her, violet eyes filled with confusion for a moment before he was very abruptly /on her/. 

Angela threw her arms around the siren, letting his weight crush her, and rested her face in his neck. His tail was heavy on her legs, his breath cold on her ear, and he said nothing, just squeezing her, breathing in the scent of her. 

“Gabriel, you’re here, you found me,” she murmured, unsure of exactly what to say. 

“I found you,” he replied softly. 

“I told you I would come back,” she breathed, squeezing him and running her hands up and down his back. It felt so cold, the skin almost rubbery and textured with thick scars. “I told you I would.” 

“You told me,” he agreed softly, and she let him lift her chin up. His hand was resting easily on her jaw and she closed her eyes, knowing a kiss was coming and realizing she was desperately overeager. Cool lips pressed to hers and she curled her arms around his neck. His hands were running up and down her body and she looked down, smirking a little when she saw the strip of her dress wrapped around his wrist. 

“What...what is this?” Real concern had flooded Gabriel’s voice, and she looked down ben between them, seeing him run his hands up and down her belly and all over her hips and thighs, rubbing at the texture of the wetsuit. He pinched it anxiously and caught some of her skin, and she winced away and laughed. “Is this---what is this?” 

“You live in the sea, I thought you would have seen a wetsuit before,” she murmured amusedly, touching his hand. She saw his brow furrow a little, and before she had a chance to stop him, he ran his talon down her spine and sliced open the wetsuit. “Gabriel, you pain!” 

He laughed, and god if it wasn’t a sweet noise. She let him peel off the wetsuit and toss the ruined remains onto the sand, his arms wrapping around her to press their bodies together. She still had a bikini beneath, luckily---but it seemed he had just been interested in feeling her bare skin under his hands again. Soft kisses pressed under her jaw, long tendrils of his soaking hair sticking to her everywhere it touched. Gabriel rolled on top of her, cradling and kissing her with the desperation of a man in the desert drinking from a well. 

“Gabriel,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes. She grinned at the neediness, panting softly from sheer breathlessness. 

He kissed her again, eyes closing, nose pressed to hers. “You are alive,” he whispered. “I thought perhaps you had…” 

“No, I’m okay,” she murmured against his lips, hand resting on his jaw. “I’m okay.” 

That night, Angela would sleep under the docks in Gabriel’s arms, until the dawn sun pierced the sky again. She kissed him softly one more time and walked soaking back to her condo, legs jelly from being submerged in the cool water all night. That same day, she would buy a tiny beachfront property near the docks.

She started to actually take her vacation times, always eager to visit her home away from home. Most people around Overwatch had thought that she might be averse to the sea after her experience, but it seemed she had fallen in love with it. No matter where they went for missions, when the fighting was done, Angela would go down to the sea and spend hours there alone---or at least, they thought she was alone. She never was.


End file.
